Welcome to the fifth of the nine-part series on dangerous mindsets that can impact situational awareness and, subsequently, the safety of your team. In this article I am going to address the stubborn team member. This individual can be described as one set in their ways, closed minded and perhaps even defiant. Their narrowed view […]
Nine Dangerous Mindsets – Part 5: The Stubborn Read More »
Welcome to the fourth installment of the Dangerous Mindsets series. Previously I talked about the dangerous mindsets of the Starter, the Subordinate and the Specialist. This article addresses the Superior or, more appropriately, the Superior with personal issues and how that can impact situational awareness and team safety. It would be rare for a supervisor
Nine Dangerous Mindsets: Part 4 – The Superior Read More »
Welcome to the third segment of the nine dangerous mindsets series. This article takes a look at the Specialist, also known as the ‘expert‘ and sometimes less affectionately referred to as the ‘know it all.’ Having smart people around is a good thing. In fact, one of the qualities of good leadership is the desire
Nine Dangerous Mindsets – Part 3: The Specialist Read More »
Being a subordinate is an inherently essential skill for first responders. Borrowing a line from the movie A Few Good Men “We follow orders or people die.” This is true. However, consistent with the outcome of the movie, sometimes BECAUSE we follow orders people die. An example of this would be when a decision maker
Nine Dangerous Mindsets – Part 2: The Subordinate Read More »
One of the human factors influencing situational awareness is the mindset of the first responder. Mindset is based on beliefs, biases and self-perception. Mindset may also be influenced by organizational culture and peer pressure. In this series I am going to explore nine potentially dangerous mindsets and share how they can impact emergency scene safety.
Nine Dangerous Mindsets – Part 1: The Starter Read More »
Locus of control is a psychological principal that refers to the extent to which a person feels they are in control of the events that can affect their life, well-being or success. It is often associated with how a person views what happens to them in life and who is responsible for their successes and
I was recently reading some research that mentioned the cognitive bias known as herd mentality (or herd behavior). Stated basically, individuals will group and follow each other for inexplicable reasons. This is sometimes referred to as the “mob mentality” and is observed during riots. When one person yells loudly and charges forward, the herd (or
Herd mentality can impact situational awareness Read More »
Primum non nocere is the Latin phrase that means “first, do no harm.” This is a commonly taught principle in healthcare. In fact, the Hippocratic Oath, taken by doctors, promises they will abstain from doing harm to their patients. The premise is it may be better to NOT do something or to do nothing at
First, Do No Harm! Read More »
There is little doubt the economic recession of 2008-2009 had a significant impact on the nation’s fire service. Hardly a day went by where there wasn’t some news about an organization that downsized, rightsized or capsized. There are all kinds of explanations and terms being attached to what happened. One I heard at the time
Firefighting: It’s a whole new ballgame Read More »
The mission of Situational Awareness Matters is to help you see the bad things coming… in time to change bad outcomes. SA is a complex neurological process and I go to painstaking efforts to ensure that what I teach here, on the podcast and in classrooms is “first responder friendly.” I don’t ever want a
Fifteen Situational Awareness Barriers Read More »
