The Practice Section

Hand-to-Hand Combat and The Danger of Entering Condition Red

January 10, 2020 in Exclusive Content

In December 2013, Army Major Tyson Walsh stopped an attack on Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan by identifying a person who stood out from the baseline. The story, which Walsh discusses in a podcast from the Modern War Institute at West Point, was the topic of an article we wrote at The CP Journal because of how clearly the narrative demonstrates the importance of having and being able to use a decision tree that a protector is able to implement quickly and confidently.  You can find that article here.

For members of the military, police officers, and the security professionals who are expected to protect others (even if that means exposing themselves to a greater degree of harm than they’d be exposed to if they were only responsible for themselves) there is a big difference in the risk you are exposed to during the time when you are making a decision and during the time when you are actually implementing a decision.  This is readily apparent in Major Walsh’s podcast, as he describes that, while he was engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the terrorist, he was approached by the terrorist’s bodyguard who struck him in the head with a lead pipe.  While the Major was unconscious, the bodyguard removed most of the evidence, collected the terrorist’s body, and attempted to make an escape.  By talking about this increased exposure that protectors have while taking action, we can begin to craft strategies and tactics to mitigate those risks and protect ourselves from unnecessary harm.

In order to understand the five ways to mitigate the risks that a protector faces while engaging an adversary, referred to as being in Condition Red, I first want to make sure that we have clearly defined what that risk is.

A Quick Review of Cooper’s Color Code

Being in “Condition Red” is an assessment about a person that reflects their current level of situational awareness.  The conditions of awareness were originally developed by Jeff Cooper, a retired Marine Colonel, and expanded on by Army Lieutenant Colonel Dave Grossman.  The version of Cooper’s Color Code that has been adopted and used by the Marine Corps in their entry-level and continuing education training programs identifies five different states of awareness that a person could be in at any given moment in time. They are:

  • Condition White: This state of awareness describes a person who has no situational awareness whatsoever.
  • Condition Yellow: This is the way to describe a person who is in a “relaxed level of alertness.” This means that a person is actively searching their surroundings for anything that stands out from their baseline, but hasn’t found anything that attracts their attention just yet.
  • Condition Orange: This is a person who has entered into a “specified level of alertness,” meaning that they have identified a person or object that doesn’t fit the baseline and have entered into their planning time in which they are deciding what they will do about it.
  • Condition Red: The person has completed their planning time and are implementing their decision. This is the state of awareness a person has when they are focused on executing their plan.
  • Condition Black: Like in Condition White, this is a state of awareness used to describe a person who has no situational awareness. What distinguishes Condition Black from Condition White is the reason for the lack of awareness.  In Condition Black, it is due to the person being overwhelmed by the events and overcome by the stress of taking the action they executed in Condition Red.

A lot of what we focus on and talk about at The CP Journal relates to the behaviors and processes that allow an alert observer to transition from Condition Yellow (where they are looking for threats) to Condition Orange (our left of bang planning time once we have identified a potential threat). 

The reason why we primarily focus on these two conditions (in the Tactical Analysis Course, Left of Bang: How The Marine Corps’ Combat Hunter Program Can Save You’re Life, and blog posts here and here) is because, if a protector is unable to recognize a threat before a weapon is seen, they never enter Condition Orange.  Instead, they transition from Condition Yellow (looking for threats) directly into Condition Red (reacting to the threat), without ever having transitioned through Condition Orange (planning time) because they didn’t have any advance warning.  Quite simply, Condition Orange is the state a person should strive for so that they can appropriately plan for how they will react to the anomaly they’ve identified. Without Condition Orange, there is no plan and there is no “getting left of bang.”

What is the Risk of Condition Red?

Once a protector has made the decision about how you will respond to the anomaly and begin to take action with the anomaly, the risk level that a protector is exposed to has just gone up.  This is because you often have to close the distance with the potentially violent person, especially when the decision is to either talk to them or detain them.  When you close the distance, you put yourself in harms way because close proximity negates skill.  Because you are at greater risk, you begin to naturally dedicate more of your mental attention to the person who could hurt you, which degrades your awareness of your surroundings. This is how someone in such a situation can find themselves in Condition Red, which is a dangerous place to be.

Think about a boxer.  As a round in the fight begins, they have put themselves inside of the ring and are moving to be within one arm’s distance with a person who is trying to knock them out.  What awareness does that boxer have of the people in the stands?  Hopefully it is zero.  If they are putting themselves close to someone who is looking for an opening to throw a punch, they shouldn’t be distracted by something on the periphery because they have to notice the subtle signs that show their opponent is getting ready to throw a punch so they can protect themselves. 

Real life, however, isn’t as clean and as governed by rules like a sanctioned boxing match is.  Whereas the boxer doesn’t have to worry about their opponent’s trainer entering the ring and throwing a sucker punch, our country’s protectors do have to worry about periphery factors. The risk of ambush and being out-numbered in an altercation is a serious threat for members of the military that needs to be considered.

While the risk of being in Condition Red can’t always be addressed, every time a protector enters into Condition Red and reduces their situational awareness of the bigger picture in order to engage a potentially violent person, they should be taking the steps necessary to minimize the risk they are exposed to for that period of time. As Major Walsh’s story highlights, the longer you spend in Condition Red, the greater the hazards that you’re exposed to.

Five Ways To Mitigate the Risks of Being In Condition Red

1. Give yourself more time in Condition Orange by recognizing the threat earlier.

By learning to read behavior, you can increase your chances of identifying the anomaly and threat sooner than you would if you don’t have that ability.  If you can create additional time to plan what you’re going to do because through earlier anomaly recognition, you can better ensure that the actions you will take can be decisive, effective, and something you can do efficiently, thus minimizing the amount of time needed in Condition Red. The longer you have to be able to be in Condition Orange to make your plan, the better. The shorter the time you’re in Condition Red, the better. So building additional muscle memory around the process to establish baselines, building templates for baselines of areas that you visit regularly, and building files folders to help you hunt for anomalies, is crucial.

2. Rehearse your decision tree and simulate scenarios that would guide you down each branch.

By being able to make a decision quickly, you can spend less time in Condition Orange, and be able to implement your plan more rapidly. This helps give you the element of surprise or allow you to engage more quickly into situations in which you simply don’t have a lot of time available in Condition Orange.  With the element of surprise, you can begin to impact your adversary’s OODA Loop (link).  If you are noncommittal or hesitant to make a decision, you risk the adversary realizing that you have identified them and changing their behavior or turning the tables on you.  These delays and hesitations could extend the time in Condition Red instead of shortening it by rehearsing your decisions.

3. Hone your craft in the actions you take in each decision. Master those processes.

Like Major Walsh, who was comfortable in his ability to engage the terrorist in hand-to-hand combat, think about your ability to do the same.  If you’re a police officer, being able to execute your handcuffing techniques or employing your non-lethal weapons should be second nature so that you are able to turn to those options confidently when you need them.

If your decision is to “contact” the anomaly, have you built comfort in initiating conversations, influencing people, and de-escalating the tension of stressful siltations?  Having processes for all of these options and then drilling those processes until they are second nature can be the difference in your ability to get done what you need to quickly enough to turn your attention back to the larger area.

4. Hone your file folders for assessing people as they approach you.

When your focus is on the person you are engaging, you may only be provided a fraction of a second to divert your attention to your surroundings.  This means that time spent expanding your file folders for people approaching you, which decreases the amount of time required to assess their intentions, will be very beneficial. Being able to assess whether a person has a hostile intent with fewer pieces of information required to reach that realization will reduce the length of time you’d have to divert your attention from the person you are engaging with to update the assessment of your safety.

5. When you are working with a partner, battle buddy, or colleague, rehearse the roles and responsibilities of the person working in the overwatch or cover position.

People are naturally attracted to action. If you are the person interacting with a potentially violent person, that could be seen as exciting to the person who should be watching your back.  If they are watching you engage the person, they aren’t watching all of the people around you and haven’t actually provided you with a greater degree of of safety. By rehearsing the expectations of each person in the partnership and discussing the contingencies that may arise, you can ensure that the “cover” person is effectively looking at the bigger picture.  This can remove the concern from the person interacting with the anomaly that there could be threats approaching, ensuring they remain focused on their role.

Conclusion

As Major Walsh’s story shows, taking action to prevent an attack to protect a large number of people can expose a protector to a greater degree of harm as an individual. While it may be an expectation of many of our nation’s warriors, police officers, and security professionals to take that risk, it doesn’t mean that they need to accept it blindly.  By recognizing that this threat can increase when we are in close proximity to a potential threat and have lost a great deal of our situational awareness of our surroundings, we can actively develop the skills necessary to reduce that operational risk to an acceptable, more safe level.

The Science of Capability Management: The Planning Element

March 17, 2019 in Exclusive Content

We posted an article on the CP Journal blog this morning about the benefits of having a structure to break down and assess an organization’s capabilities, and there is one element of this process that we wanted to expand upon right away.  As the Academy offers subscribers opportunities to practice what they learn in ways that deepen their expertise and skills through repetition, we wanted to offer some of our own lessons learned from building and managing capabilities that you can apply in your organizations.  We recommend reading the aforementioned article, “The Science of Capability Management”, before reading on.

One of the reasons why capability management is so important for protectors is because it is one of the few areas that they can be in control of.  When you, as one of those protectors, consider the three buckets of control and the limitations that protectors and warriors face when focusing solely on the adversary, the capabilities that you develop for your teams and organizations is the way to ensure that you continue to make progress on the important tasks of preparing for the conflicts and battles ahead.

Using the POETE framework that we discussed in our article from this morning as a means to assess the underlying components to a capability is one that we’ve experimented with over the last year since it was released in the 2018 THIRA Guide.  The challenge we had in integrating the POETE framework into our process, however, was that the definitions of what goes into the Planning, Organization, Equipment, Training and Exercising of a capability wasn’t deep or comprehensive. Since the definitions provided in the guide were only one bullet point deep, it took some time and iterations for us to determine what we would need in each category to unlock the full potential of an objective approach to assessing a capability.

We will break down and discuss each POETE element separately here in the Academy, with this first post focusing on the “P” – Planning.

The Planning Section of the capability assessment is designed to help create the plans for how your capability will be put into action. The challenge we ran into when we were first implementing the POETE framework, however, was that “go create a plan” as an action item was neither specific nor comprehensive enough to address the questions and challenges that a leader faces when developing and maintaining their organization’s capabilities.  Over the last year, we have refined the way we use the planning element to include the following items before we move on to the other elements of the capability comfortably.

What goes into our adapted planning element is the following:

Continue reading »

Reading Behavior In Conversation: Part 6

August 13, 2018 in Assessing Individuals

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This is the sixt of a six part exercise to read behavior of both sides of a conversation using an incident where police officers were called to a home where there was the report of a potential break in.

(Video Source)

The Workout

  • Context: In the following video, two police officers talk with a man who was reported being seen outside of a home while carrying a shovel.  In this sixth part, the first officer who spoke with the man has returned from her patrol car to and approaches while the second officer and man engage in a confrontation.
  • Because of the length of the video, this exercise will be broken up into a six-part series.
  • Task 1:First, assess the man being contacted’s behavior and identify the observations that support that assessment before the confrontation.
  • Task 2: Second, assess the police officer’s behavior and identify the observations that support that assessment before the confrontation.  View this from the perspective of the man being contacted.
  • Task 3: Is the dominance displayed by the officer (as likely perceived by the man) at the same intensity as in previous clips or displayed at a different intensity?
  • Note: We acknowledge that the assessment in Task #3 is HIGHLY subjective.  We aren’t in the officer’s head and haven’t talked to him.  We are basing this assessment (when it is different than the behavior observed in Task #2) on the observations and behaviors we can collect in this video.
  • Write your answers on a sheet of paper before viewing our answers

View Our Answers

  • Task 1: The Man (Initially): The Dominant Cluster
      • Makes an accusation: He makes a phone call and says to the person on the other end “come to my mom’s house, the police is over here and they harassing me.”
      • Says to the officer: “you can’t grab my phone like that.”
  • Task 2: The Police Officer (As assessed by man): The Dominant Cluster
    • The officer has come to the top of the steps, blocking him in.
    • Makes contact with the man, grabbing his phone.
    • Fights the man to get control.
  • Task 3: Yes, displayed at a higher intensity.
    • The officer has moved from verbal and non-verbal dominance to physically controlling the man.
  • Add a comment with the assessments that you made, but that we didn’t make, so that other viewers can benefit from your analysis as well.

Enhance The Workout

  • Repeat
    • Were they any behavioral indicators given off by the man on the porch that contradict the dominant assessment or was the man displaying consistent dominance?
  • Reflect
    • Was this the logical conclusion of the event or were there other options that the police officer could have taken to gain control over the man and the situation?
    • Note: we aren’t saying that the officer should have done something different, the question is to simply think about other potential courses of action the officer could have taken to accomplish the goal so that you have the ability to adapt in any given situation.
  • Act
    • In a conversation this week, identify two ways that you could deal with a confrontational conversation before it begins.
    • Start with one approach, and then shift to get a feel for the challenge and the comfort that comes with practicing a change in behavior.

Related Content:

Reading Behavior In Conversation: Part 4

February 2, 2018 in Assessing Individuals

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This is the fourth of a six part exercise to read behavior of both sides of a conversation using an incident where police officers were called to a home where there was the report of a potential break in.

(Video Source)

The Workout

  • Context: In the following video, two police officers talk with a man who was reported being seen outside of a home while carrying a shovel.  In this fourth part, the first officer who spoke with the man is at her patrol car to check on his information, while the second officer is speaking with the man.
  • Because of the length of the video, this exercise will be broken up into a six-part series.
  • Task 1: First, assess the man being contacted’s behavior and identify the observations that support that assessment.
  • Task 2: Second, are there any changes in the man’s behavior when this 4th segment is compared to the first three parts of this exercise?
  • Task 3: Third, assess the police officer’s behavior and identify the observations that support that assessment.  View this from the perspective of the man being contacted.
  • Task 4: Fourth, Identify the cluster of behavior that the police officer likely believes that he is displaying towards the man and identify the observations that support that assessment.
  • Note: We acknowledge that the assessment in task #4 is HIGHLY subjective.  We aren’t in the officer’s head and haven’t talked to him.  We are basing this assessment (when it is different than the behavior observed in Task #3) on the observations and behaviors we can collect in this video.
  • Write your answers on a sheet of paper before viewing our answers

View Our Answers

  • I assess the man as falling into two clusters during the video
  • Task 1: The Man (Initially): The Uncomfortable Cluster
    • Takes a couple of deep breaths
    • Continues to try and get his mom on the phone
    • He leans back in his chair and then immediately comes back forward
    • He crosses his legs and then quickly uncrosses them
    • He is tight lipped with details until he is asked for more information
    • He gets a bit frazzled while trying to pronounce his last name
  • Task 2: Are there any changes in the man’s behavior?
    • Yes
  • The Man (At The End): Begins shifting into The Dominant Cluster
    • In response to getting asked if he has any warrants on file – begins getting annoyed with the questions.  Answers the question abruptly.
    • Says, “I don’t know what the problem is…” in response to the question about an ID and appears to be getting more annoyed that the police are still there despite the fact he has already explained his story.
    • Starts to walk down the stairs so they can go talk to Charlie – trying to get definitive proof that he isn’t a criminal.
    • Illustrating gestures begin to change towards making points explicitly clear
  • Task 3: The Police Officer (As assessed by man): The Dominant Cluster
    • Continues to question the man’s story and tries pin down where he lives
    • Asserts authority: “You can put it on speaker phone.”
    • Asks if he has any warrants on file for him
    • Ue off emblem gestures when he gives the man the “thumbs up” sign when explaining the confusion for the last name.
  • The Police Officer (As likely assessed internally): The Comfortable Cluster
    • It appears that he acknowledges that he believes him.  After the call, the man says, “You do believe me, right?” The officer doesn’t verbalize it, but the man’s response indicates that the officer likely nodded his head or something.
    • Tries the joke again, “People don’t typically break in and then sit on the porch.”
    • When the man tries to go get the neighbor, Charlie, says “No, we straight” – indicating that he doesn’t actually see the guy as a likely criminal.
  • Add a comment with the assessments that you made, but that we didn’t make, so that other viewers can benefit from your analysis as well.

Enhance The Workout

  • Repeat
    • Rewatch the video as many times as is necessary to identify each of the observations that we have identified for the man, the way the officer is likely being perceived by the man, and the way the officer is likely perceiving his own actions.
    • Despite the fact that there is only 10 seconds of interaction, that provides a long enough period of time to build a cluster of at least 3 indicators for each assessment.
    • Being able to quickly establish the initial cluster (the baseline for the man being contacted), is critical so that you can have a point of reference to measure any changes in behavior against.
  • Reflect
    • Are there any times in your life where you have observed a discrepancy between the type of behavior you think you are displaying and the way another person might be perceiving you?
    • This is what is commonly referred to as a miscommunication, where what someone says (whether verbally or nonverbally) is interpreted differently by the person receiving the message than the person communicating it.
    • Think about times where you may have been part of a miscommunication and assess the difference in the cluster of behavior used to express whatever was being talked about.  The goal isn’t to focus on the content of the words conversation itself, but in the way it was expressed.
  • Act
    • As we seek to minimize miscommunications, being able to view a conversation that you are having from a detached perspective is a skill that takes practice.  You are viewing this in a POV way as the footage is from the officer’s body camera, but try to envision seeing this as an outsider.  How is the officer standing? How is he (likely) sizing up the man? How is the man (likely) sizing up the officer?
    • Throughout the week, use some conversations that you are in as an opportunity to practice detaching yourself and viewing the interaction as an outsider, where you can observe yourself through the eyes of another.  It won’t come naturally at first, it absolutely takes work, but is a skill that once developed, can be a huge asset in your ability to assess other people and influence their future actions and behavior.

Related Content:

Reading Behavior In Conversation: Part 3

January 30, 2018 in Assessing Individuals

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This is the third of a six part exercise to read behavior of both sides of a conversation using an incident where police officers were called to a home where there was the report of a potential break in.

(Video Source)

The Workout

  • Context: In the following video, two police officers talk with a man who was reported being seen outside of a home while carrying a shovel.  In this third part, the first officer who spoke with the man is at her patrol car to check on his information, while the second officer is speaking with the man.
  • Because of the length of the video, this exercise will be broken up into a six-part series.
  • Task 1: First, assess the man being contacted’s behavior and identify the observations that support that assessment.
  • Task 2: Second, identify one potential reason for the man’s behavior that indicates a criminal/violent/illegitimate intent and one potential reason for the man’s behavior that is legitimate/not-criminal/non-violent
  • Task 3: Third, assess the police officer’s behavior and identify the observations that support that assessment.  View this from the perspective of the man being contacted.
  • Task 4: Fourth, Identify the cluster of behavior that the police officer likely believes that he is displaying towards the man and identify the observations that support that assessment.
  • Note: We acknowledge that the assessment in task #4 is HIGHLY subjective.  We aren’t in the officer’s head and haven’t talked to him.  We are basing this assessment (when it is different than the behavior observed in Task #3) on the observations and behaviors we can collect in this video.
  • Write your answers on a sheet of paper before viewing our answers

View Our Answers

  • The Man: The Uncomfortable Cluster
    • An increase of illustrating gestures: he recreates everything that he was doing so that the officer can see that he wasn’t breaking into the home.
    • Very quickly rebuts the officer’s assertion that he was breaking into the house (or that neighbors called because it looked like he was).
    • He clarifies partial information given before: “I’m in and out.”
    • He begins identifying all of the people who can vouch for him and prove that he does in fact belong at this house.
    • Attempts to call his mom so that she can tell the officer that he wasn’t breaking in.
  • Potential Reasons For Behavior
    • Criminal/Violent/Illegitimate: Is uncomfortable because he was actually trying to break in and is about to get caught.  Another reason is that he has a criminal history and that the police officer is perceived as a threat because he could catch him.
    • Non-violent/Non-criminal/Legitimate: He is worried that he will be seen as lying and falsely accused or in trouble, even though he hasn’t done anything wrong.  If he does in fact live at that house, the police officers have entered onto his property (his anchor point). His discomfort could also be the result of the officer’s display of dominance because he doesn’t have the ability to establish an ideal separation/distance when assessing the group dynamics.
  • The Police Officer (As assessed by man): The Dominant Cluster
    • Says to the man “you can see what it looks like right?” Showing that while he understands the man, that it does look like he was breaking in.
    • Stops him to get clarity, “Do you actually live here?”
    • Another accusatory question,  “Where’s you key, bro?”
  • The Police Officer (As likely assessed internally): The Comfortable Cluster
    • Allows the man to move around with the shovel, which could be used as a weapon, and something he probably wouldn’t allow if he felt threatened.
    • Allows the man to state his case and to call his mom.
    • He attempts the joke, “well, we usually don’t have some try (to break in) and then just sit on the porch waiting (for the police).”
  • Add a comment with the assessments that you made, but that we didn’t make, so that other viewers can benefit from& your analysis as well.[/expand]

Enhance The Workout

  • Repeat
    • Watch the video as many times as is needed to observe each of the three assessments (the man, the officer as perceived by the man, and the officer’s likely internal assessment), to help build your file folders for the recognition of each cluster.
    • This will help you make these assessments more quickly when you are the one having the conversation and have to consider both what you are observing as well as what you are saying and what you’re hearing. The more repetitions you have make it easier to recognize the displayed behaviors when the situation is more challenging.
  • Reflect
    • Think about the two potential sources of discomfort that you identified in the task.  What information would you need to see in future segments of the video to prove that one or the other is more likely?  List these out if possible.
    • Before considering both possible sources (violent AND non-violent or criminal AND non-criminal) did you find yourself jumping to a conclusion about where this interaction is heading?  That might be a natural reaction, but keep in mind that remaining objective requires that you consider multiple causes for the observed behavior and haven’t shut yourself off to contradictory information.
  • Act
    • In the same as Part 2 of this exercise, throughout the week, use some conversations that you are in as an opportunity to practice detaching yourself and viewing the interaction as an outsider, where you can observe yourself through the eyes of another.
    • It won’t come naturally at first, it absolutely takes work, but is a skill that once developed, can be a huge asset in your ability to assess other people and influence their future actions and behavior.

Related Content:

  • The Full Exercise
    • Part 1
    • Part 2
    • Part 3: THIS EXERCISE
    • Part 4
    • Part 5
    • Part 6
    • Debrief

Reading Behavior In Conversation: Part 2

January 16, 2018 in Assessing Individuals

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This is the second of a six part exercise to read behavior of both sides of a conversation using an incident where police officers were called to a home where there was the report of a potential break in.

(Video Source)

The Workout

  • Context: In the following video, two police officers talk with a man who was reported being seen outside of a home while carrying a shovel.  In this second part, the first officer who spoke with the man has returned to her car to check on his information, while the second officer is approaching the man to talk to him.
  • Because of the length of the video, this exercise will be broken up into a six-part series.
  • Task 1: First, assess the man being contacted’s behavior and identify the observations that support that assessment.
  • Task 2: Second, assess the police officer’s behavior and identify the observations that support that assessment.  View this from the perspective of the man being contacted.
  • Task 3: Third, Identify the cluster of behavior that the police officer likely believes that he is displaying towards the man and identify the observations that support that assessment.
  • Note: We acknowledge that the assessment in task #3 is HIGHLY subjective.  We aren’t in the officer’s head and haven’t talked to him.  We are basing this assessment (when it is different than the behavior observed in Task #2) on the observations and behaviors we can collect in this video.
  • Write your answers on a sheet of paper before viewing our answers

View Our Answers

  • The Man: The Submissive Cluster
    • The man refers to the police officer as “sir.”
    • The man stays seated, making himself look smaller than the officer standing over him
    • The man offers the shovel to the officer and quickly explains that he was doing nothing wrong with the shovel, to show that he is being non-threatening to the officer.
  • The Police Officer (As assessed by man): The Dominant Cluster
    • Opens with an accusatory joke: “What are you doing breaking into your mom’s house?”  While likely intended as a joke, there is the inherent stressor that comes with the accusation of a crime from a police officer.
    • Walks onto the porch: blocking the man’s only exit route or option to re-establish distance from the officer.  Assessed as dominance as it eliminates the opportunity for the man to establish a proxemic separation (group dynamics) that would make him comfortable or not feel threatened.
    • Entry into the man’s anchor point as the porch is part of the home.
    • The question, “what’s with the shovel,” is a direct question, something often seen in the dominant cluster.
  • The Police Officer (As likely assessed internally): The Comfortable Cluster
    • Approaches the man casually and not in an overtly aggressive way.
    • The use of the joke, “What are you doing breaking into your mom’s house?” is said in a light, non-aggressive voice.
    • After going up the stairs to the porch, leans on one arm on the railing (you can see the reflection in the glass door), which is a relaxed posture.
  • Add a comment with the assessments that you made, but that we didn’t make, so that we can check for those assessments and provide feedback on those specific observations.  We will add them to our answers in the post itself for future viewings of the exercise.

Enhance The Workout

  • Repeat
    • Rewatch the video as many times as is necessary to identify each of the observations that we have identified for the man, the way the officer is likely being perceived by the man, and the way the officer is likely perceiving his own actions.
    • Despite the fact that there is only 10 seconds of interaction, that provides a long enough period of time to build a cluster of at least 3 indicators for each assessment.
    • Being able to quickly establish the initial cluster (the baseline for the man being contacted), is critical so that you can have a point of reference to measure any changes in behavior against.
  • Reflect
    • Are there any times in your life where you have observed a discrepancy between the type of behavior you think you are displaying and the way another person might be perceiving you?
    • This is what is commonly referred to as a miscommunication, where what someone says (whether verbally or nonverbally) is interpreted differently by the person receiving the message than the person communicating it.
    • Think about times where you may have been part of a miscommunication and assess the difference in the cluster of behavior used to express whatever was being talked about.  The goal isn’t to focus on the content of the words conversation itself, but in the way it was expressed.
  • Act
    • As we seek to minimize miscommunications, being able to view a conversation that you are having from a detached perspective is a skill that takes practice.  You are viewing this in a POV way as the footage is from the officer’s body camera, but try to envision seeing this as an outsider.  How is the officer standing? How is he (likely) sizing up the man? How is the man (likely) sizing up the officer?
    • Throughout the week, use some conversations that you are in as an opportunity to practice detaching yourself and viewing the interaction as an outsider, where you can observe yourself through the eyes of another.  It won’t come naturally at first, it absolutely takes work, but is a skill that once developed, can be a huge asset in your ability to assess other people and influence their future actions and behavior.

Related Content:

  • The Full Exercise
    • Part 1
    • Part 2: THIS EXERCISE
    • Part 3
    • Part 4
    • Part 5
    • Part 6
    • Debrief

Reading Behavior In Conversation: Part 1

January 10, 2018 in Assessing Individuals

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This is the first of a six part exercise to read behavior of both sides of a conversation using an incident where police officers were called to a home where there was the report of a potential break in.

(Video Source)

The Workout

  • Context: In the following video, two police officers talk with a man who was reported being seen outside of a home while carrying a shovel.  Because of the length of the video, this exercise will be broken up into a six-part series.
  • Task 1: As you watch the video, your task is to observe both the police officer and the man being contacted to determine what cluster of behavior is being displayed by each and identify the observable indicators that support that assessment.
  • Task 2: Would the behavior of the man who is being contacted attract your attention as being an anomaly or would you assess it as being part of the baseline for this type of encounter?
  • Write your answers on a sheet of paper before viewing our answers

View Our Answers

  • The Man: Displaying the Uncomfortable Cluster at a low intensity.
    • Stands up when the officer approaches
    • Explains that he is at his mom’s house and offers his name and his mom’s name
    • A bit of a stutter with his words
    • He shifts his weight back and forth
    • Use of illustrating gestures and explains how he comes here every day
    • Licks his lips
    • Rocks backwards when the officer mentions that someone reported a break in
  • The Police Officer: Displays the comfortable cluster
    • Laughs as she realizes he isn’t breaking in
    • Simply asks if everything is alright
    • Calm tone of voice
    • Is accommodating – says “ok” a lot
  • When considering the man’s behavior:
    • I would, at this point, assess the man’s behavior as being within the baseline.
    • As a uniformed police officer just approached him and mentioned that they are responding to the report of a break-in, that would likely elicit a threat or stress response.
    • It is at a low intensity because the displays indicating discomfort aren’t overly exaggerated.
  • Add a comment with the assessments that you made, but that we didn’t make, so that we can check for those assessments and provide feedback on those specific observations.  We will add them to our answers in the post itself for future viewings of the exercise.

Enhance The Workout

  • Repeat
    • For each of the observations we have listed above (for each person), re-watch the video and observe each of them multiple times so that the observation and the assessment of each one becomes something you pick up on very quickly and rapidly.
  • Reflect
    • Consider how little time you just had (the entire video was only 70 seconds long) to make a first impression about each person.
    • As the video continues in the future exercises, you will have a much greater quantity of information available to you, but the first few seconds of an encounter are what establish a set of expectations that you will have moving forward and to help you recognize shifts in behavior.
    • As shifts in behavior are very important to identify, having a point of comparison for future assessments is a crucial part of a behavioral approach to recognizing threats, and establishing the initial cluster of behavior observed accurately and rapidly is the first step in the process.
  • Act
    • In this exercise, you are viewing a conversation from a removed perspective.  You are hearing it and observing it (through body camera footage), but aren’t taking part in it.
    • One of the milestones as you pursue mastery in a topic is when you can begin to see yourself interacting with others, as if you are another person.
    • That isn’t always a natural thing to do, so throughout the week, when you’re part of a conversation, but not really active in it, take a moment to observe the other two people deeply and think about how someone else would be observing you in that situation.

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  • The Full Exercise

Exercise: Assessing Individual People Using a Bottom-Up Analysis

December 22, 2017 in Assessing Individuals

For the holidays, here is one of our favorite exercises and one that we get the most amount of benefit from.

Generally speaking, here is what it is:

  • You are going to observe a single person, for an extended amount of time, in order to figure out:
    • Where they have come from
    • Where they “are”
    • Where they are going
  • You will do this through a process of deep observation and analysis, but before you answer those questions, you are going to collect as much data and facts about the person (through observation). The observations come BEFORE you make any judgments, assessments or decisions about them.

Here is what you need:

  • A coffee shop that is fairly busy
  • An hour to an hour-and-a-half of time so that you aren’t rushed and can do this exercise to completion.

The Setup Before Going:

  • On a sheet of paper:
    • Draw a line down the middle of the page from top to bottom
    • Draw a second line from left to right about two-thirds of the way down the page
    • This will create four boxes, with the top two boxes being bigger than the bottom two boxes.
  • Label:
    • The top left box “Uncontrolled Behavior”
    • The top right box “Chosen Behavior”
    • The bottom left box “Where they are coming from”
    • The bottom right box “Where they are going”
  • Here is a screen shot of the form that I use on my iPad.

On-Scene Setup:

  • Go to a coffee shop, get yourself a drink and take a seat at a table where you can observe a person inconspicuously.
  • Ideally you are able to position yourself where the person you are observing is directly in front of you so that your observations are a little less noticeable by being able to simply glance up from your notebook instead of turning your head and making it clear that you are looking at the person.
  • If possible, find a table where you can observe a person who is alone and who is doing work on their computer as they are often less aware of their surroundings and going to be in the coffee shop for a longer period of time than the person who is just there to meet someone else or just there to eat or drink.

Step 1: Observe Uncontrollable Behavior

  • Starting with the box on the top left, begin by observing their body language deeply from the ground up. Be as descriptive as you can be about what you are observing.
  • The end state for this step is to assign them to one of the four clusters of individual behavior ONCE YOU HAVE listed at least 10 or so total observations.
  • Note: You can move through this stage fairly quickly, because you will be able to expand on it as you move forward, but make sure the assessment and assignment to a cluster is based on the observations you make and not before.

Step #2: Observe The Choices They Have Made

  • When that first step is complete, move to the box on the top right of the page.
  • Here, you will list out every single choice that person made before coming to this coffee shop. For example:
    • What are they wearing? Be descriptive.
    • What grooming choices did they make? Be descriptive.
    • What objects do they have with them? Be descriptive.
    • Where have they placed those objects? Be descriptive.
  • The end state for this step is to have a list of 25 to 30 different observations about what a person did before coming here (clothing and grooming) and what they did upon arrival (what they took out and where they put everything).
  • Note #1: Don’t worry about doing any analysis at this stage of the process, because you don’t want to slow yourself down or begin making determinations before you have enough facts about the person. Your only goal is to collect the dots that you will later connect. Where possible, be overly descriptive. It isn’t just that they are wearing shoes, but what style are they, what is the brand, what is the condition of them, how much did they cost? Dig in.
  • Note #2: Throughout this step, you will also notice many more of their uncontrolled behaviors as well. Before moving on, strive for a list of 20 or so of these behaviors as well to ensure that you aren’t limiting yourself to the easy observable or immediately noticeable behaviors, but continuously adding depth to it as well.

Step #3: Analyze Your Information and Determine Where They Are Going

  • Once I have around 30 chosen behaviors and 20 uncontrolled behaviors, I move into the bottom right box, of the sheet, which is where I focus on their intentions.
  • What I am trying to figure out is, what are they going to do next?
  • Task 1: Identify two possible choices for what the person will do once they are done with whatever thing they are working on.
  • Task 2: Once those two options are written down, determine which of those is their most likely next action and which of those two is their least likely next action. Write out your justification for your prediction using the observations you made in the first two steps.
  • Task 3: For the most likely next action, list out the things that you will have to see to prove that your assessment about what they are going to do next is correct. For example, if you believe they are going to leave, you may list out they will first close their computer, then put it in their backpack, then standup, then put their backpack on, etc. Be as descriptive as they can be.
  • Task 4: For the option that you believe is the least likely next step, list out the steps they would have to follow to do that as well to ensure you are also considering the behaviors that would prove your most likely assessment as being incorrect.
  • Note: This step is incredibly important to do before shifting to the fourth and final step of the exercise because if at any point, if the person’s behavior changes, you have already anticipated what those shifts might mean and you will have an early warning about what they are likely to do next.

Step #4: Analyzing Your Information and Determining Where the Person Came From

  • Once the other three boxes are filled in, your final step is to begin thinking about where the person is coming from. It could be literal, where were they right before they came here? Or it could be a bit earlier in their life as you ask, what is this person’s background?
  • What led them to be able to be here, right now, doing what they are doing?
  • What is their profession? What is their (likely) economic status? What do they value? What is their motivation?
  • Note: For many people (to include us), this is the hardest step in the process, especially when trying it for the first time. As Sherlock Holmes notes in his short stories, it is much easier for many people to take something they see and project that out into the future than it is to see something in the present and figure out what led them to this moment. Thinking forwards and thinking backwards are two essential skills to be developed.

In the next few weeks, we will add a few more pieces to this exercise, with an in-depth explanation about why we do this, how to self-assess your own performance and how it fits into our baselining process. But in the meantime, get your first repetition of this exercise under your belt so that you have a point of reference and personal experience for the time when that additional information comes out.

Identifying Discomfort While Waiting In Line

December 1, 2017 in Assessing Individuals

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In this video, you will see people waiting in line to order pizza at a Pizza Port restaurant in Southern California on a busy Friday night in the summer.

The Workout

  • 1: Identify the behaviors, gestures, and cues that reveal the man in the grey shirt as being uncomfortable while he waits in line to order a pizza.
  • 2: Identify one potential violent or malicious reason for his display of discomfort.
  • 3: List the behaviors you would need to observe to lead you to believe that his discomfort reveals a violent intent.
  • 4: Identify one potential non-violent or legitimate reason for his display of discomfort.
  • 5: List the behaviors your would need to observe to feel confident that his discomfort is not due to him having a violent intent.
  • 6: Based on what you observe in this video, identify the option (whether violent or non-violent) that is likely more probable and explain why.
  • Write your answers on a sheet of paper before viewing our answers

View Our Answers

1: Identify the behaviors, gestures, and cues that reveal the man in the grey shirt as being uncomfortable.

  • Arms crossed
  • Swaying back and forth
  • Elevated situational awareness
  • Shifting weight back and forth
  • Rocking side to side to see what is up ahead
  • Hands moving around: from hands to hip to rubbing his face, back to crossed
  • Minimal conversation with friend

2: Identify one potential violent or malicious reason for his display of discomfort.

  • Could be uncomfortable because he is nervous about trying to kidnap the kids in front of him

3: List the behaviors you would need to observe to lead you to believe that his discomfort reveals a violent intent.

  • Focused observation of the kid’s father (guy in the blue tee-shirt who replaces the kids in line)
  • Focused observation of the kids themselves
  • Tracking the kids movement as they move from the line (they go to some video games against the wall)
  • Identification of any one else who may be associated with the kids.

4: Identify one potential non-violent or legitimate reason for his display of discomfort.

  • Could be uncomfortable because he is waiting in a long line to order and doesn’t know where he will sit once he orders (it is open seating and there is no hostess to assign them a table)

5: List the behaviors your would need to observe to feel confident that his discomfort is not due to him having a violent intent.

  • Crowding forward in line to get closer to the point of ordering
  • Increased situational awareness to identify potential places where they could sit once he has ordered
  • Unfocused situational awareness as he glances at anything that catches his eye

6: Based on what you observe in this video, identify the option (whether violent or non-violent) that is likely more probable and explain why.

  • Likely cause: Non-violent – looking for a place to sit
  • There is occasional looks at the kids, but not for a prolonged period
  • Situational awareness appears to be unfocused as he looks around at multiple tables/groups and isn’t focused on anything specific (like the kids) that he continually comes back to
  • Maintains distance and separation from the group ahead of him in line
  • His friend (man in black tee-shirt) doesn’t sit down after they talk, but begins looking at the crowded seated area (it is open seating) to see if anything is open, and then returns to stand in a habitual area instead of claiming an anchor point.

Add a comment with the assessments that you made, but that we didn’t make, so that we can check for those assessments and provide feedback on those specific observations.  We will add them to our answers in the post itself for future viewings of the exercise.[/expand]

Enhance The Workout

  • Repeat
    • One of the goals for this exercise is to develop file folders for the uncomfortable cluster and do that in a situation where it is often observed (in long and slow moving lines and where anchor points are not guaranteed).
    • So watch and repeat the video as many times as needed to observe and identify each of the uncomfortable cues present.
    • For each of the two scenarios being considered (violent and non-violent reasons) continue to watch him and add to the behaviors you would need to see that would lead you to assess either the violent or non-violent causes for his behavior as being more likely.
  • Reflect
    • A second goal for this exercise is to make a habit of intentionally considering both the violent and non-violent reasons for behavior.
    • THIS IS A HUGE COMPONENT TO REMAINING OBJECTIVE IN OUR OBSERVATIONS.
    • With the exception of times when it is clear that behavior is displayed at such a high intensity that it requires an immediate decision, we can reduce the amount of uncertainty we face in our decision making by defining each possible options for behavior and actively searching for the information to either confirm or deny our assumptions about the cause.
    • The importance of doing this can’t be over-stated.
  • Act
    • The goal for taking this exercise from the computer to real life is to break domain dependence.  Identify an area in your life where you often observe extended lines of people  and think about the ways you may have seen people display discomfort in those settings.
    • Think about things that the company or whoever controls that area could have done to make people feel more comfortable despite the fact that it is taking a long time to order.

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Assessing Groups and Mapping An Organization

November 28, 2017 in Assessing Groups

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A common task for military and police units is to build a map of a criminal, insurgent or terrorist network that they are targeting. Often done through surveillance (observation), it is through understanding the relationships between members of an organization and identifying sources of information that the required information begins to present itself to build a map.  That is what today’s exercise is focused on.

Click the “More” button to view the exercise.

Continue reading »

Personas In A Doctor’s Office

November 17, 2017 in Baselining

Photo Credit

In today’s exercise, you will be practicing and developing your ability to conduct the deliberate search in a doctor’s office.

The Workout

  • Using the photo above as something to jog your memory of a doctor’s office, identify all of the baseline (non-violent) personas present inside of a doctor’s office and what their purpose/intention is for being there.
  • Write your answers on a sheet of paper before viewing our answers

View Our Answers

  1. The doctors: provide medical treatment to patients
  2. The nurses: support the doctor’s treatment through preparing patients (taking vitals), conduct initial assessment, and follow up with patients
  3. Receptionist: Process incoming patients, ensure administrative tasks for patients are done, process payment upon completion, conduct scheduling.
  4. Patients: People in the office to receive treatment.
  5. Family/friends of patient: people to help the patient get to the doctor, provide support
  6. Medical sales professionals: People attempting to sell the doctor

Add a comment with the assessments that you made, but that we didn’t make, so that we can check for those assessments and provide feedback on those specific observations.  We will add them to our answers in the post itself for future viewings of the exercise.

Enhance The Workout
  • Repeat
    • The goal for this exercise was to improve your ability to conduct mental simulations for places you are about to visit, so for each of the personas you expect to see in a doctor’s office, go back and picture them doing their jobs.
      • Where are they standing?
      • What are they wearing?
      • What is their behavior like?
  • Reflect
    • Consider any personas that you missed and diagnose why you think you made the error.
    • By conducting a self-driven failure analysis, you can:
      • Identify gaps in your understanding of what types of people make places “work.”
      • Identify if you have natural trends towards rushing through simulations and missing key components through lack of attention.
  • Act
    • When you are walking into a store this week (any store), spend a moment in the parking lot to repeat this exercises before entering and check for similarities.
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