Identifying Discomfort While Waiting In Line

December 1, 2017 in Assessing Individuals

..

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.

Related Content:

Mapping A Restaurant

October 27, 2017 in Assessing The Environment

In today’s exercise, you will be practice mapping the environment in a restaurant.


The Workout

  • Identify a restaurant that you have been to the past and will go to again in the next week.
  • Sketch a layout of the building. Be as detailed as you can be about what is inside.
  • Once you have a layout of the building and what is inside, identify if the area as a whole is a habitual area or an anchor point.
  • Identify the areas within the building as permanent or temporary anchor points and identify the criteria for access.
  • Once you have your sketch, visit the location
    • Check to see how accurate or inaccurate you were. For example, did you have the correct number of tables? The right number of barstools and booths? What about windows?
    • Add a comment with the types of errors you made (numbers, layouts, windows, etc.)
  • We would love for you to send us your sketches as well – if so, attach a picture or a scan from your phone to training@cp-journal.com

[expand title=”View Our Answers”]

  • My sketch of a nearby brewery is the picture above.
  • I missed 2 tables in the middle of the restaurant and was off by 4 bar stools.
  • I also didn’t account for the windows or where the vantage points were of the parking lot entrance.[/expand]

Enhance The Workout
  • Repeat
    • One of the goals for the exercise was to help you identify what elements of a building you naturally note, and which you don’t, so:
      • Identify a second area where you can practice this skill to see if the things you missed were unique to that particular location or a trend that needs to be corrected.
    • Be very detailed in your notes about where you were right and where you were wrong, and re-draw the areas until your map of the restaurant is accurate.
  • Reflect
    • A second goal for this exercise was to improve your ability to anticipate environments and minimize the amount of uncertainty or unfamiliarity you experience when walking into an area.
    • How often do you take a moment to visualize the areas you are about to walk in to? As this act is what forms the first impression of what you expect (the baseline) and will be your point of comparison to everything that is occurring once you enter the area, how detailed are you expectations and how can you improve them?
  • Act
    • Create a system to map the environment that works for you, that allows you to track the various anchor points, natural lines of drift and observation points.

Related Content: