Post by woodyz on Nov 7, 2015 14:09:08 GMT -7
Left of BANG!? Some ways to stay there.
May 19, 2015
What is 'left of BANG'? Well it is training philosophy used by the United States Marine Corps and developed by Patrick Van Horne and Jason Riley which helps team members avoid life threatening situations. The idea is that 'BANG' is any negative situation, in the case of Marines a roadside bomb or ambush, sniper or unexpected life threatening situation. In dealing with the situation on a timeline from left to right, 'BANG' is an unexpected and sudden event in the middle which we have to react to it after it has occurred, which is right of 'BANG'.
For example, you interview a potential new employee who has the resume of a lifetime to do the job, but something tells you not to offer a position. You hire them anyway, but after they start they are a disaster, with no people or communications skills that cause long term disruption and damage in the workplace. You spend months trying to fix the damage they have done after they leave, this is the 'right of BANG' reaction. How many times have you talked yourself into getting over your silly “gut” feeling about someone or something and been proven right in retrospect? Is there a way to not just listen to your intuition more, but to actually increase your sensitivity to 'threats' before they happen? Well yes, there is and it is actually relatively simple and takes just a little thought and awareness.
STAYING LEFT OF BANG
Ideally people want to avoid BANG situations, so we want to stay 'left of BANG'. The philosophy is that by having good situational awareness, observing our environment and being aware of problems we can avoid stressful, dangerous or negative situations, or at least be aware that they are about to occur and prepare in advance. So although it may have been developed specifically for dangerous military environments it is certainly a simple concept worth understanding so we can apply it in our daily lives to help avoid our own 'BANG' situations. Maybe they are health problems, financial challenges or workplace health and safety issues, but really our own 'BANGs' can be any negative events that will affect our lives.
To start to identify and avoid our own 'BANGs' we can use the simple concept of identifying what our baseline or 'normal' situation is, look at what anomalies or problems could occur and then act to avoid them. In fact, as with any problem, identifying the potential indicators of 'our BANG' is the hardest part as they are always hidden in the everyday minutia of our lives and almost always occur with little perceived warning, seemingly 'out of the blue' so to speak. Of course this is never the case, there are always warnings, no matter how small. How many times have you heard someone say after a workplace accident, "Oh I just felt something wasn't right", or "We knew things weren't going well"? Rather than rely on this rather useless retrospective knowledge how can we potentially raise the situational awareness of what is happening in our lives and identify emerging 'threats' to our physical safety, workplace efficiency, emotional wellbeing, financial stability or even just everyday lifestyle habits?
OODA LOOP OR BOYD CYCLE
Well one of the first things we can do to understand what is going on around us is to use the OODA process to stay 'Left of BANG'. Observe, Orient, Decide, Act (OODA) was devised by the United States Air Force fighter pilot and military theorist John Boyd as a way for the military to out think, and ultimately outfight their opponents, but really it is a simple and very sound decision making theory that can be applied to almost any process. It is called the OODA Loop or Boyd Cycle and it seems self explanatory, but in relation to staying left of 'BANG' or making a decision, really the most difficult part is the Orient phase. Orient is where we see ourselves, a business, family or even workmates in relation to the situation we are Observing. In avoiding BANG we must be relatively sure in Orientating ourselves in regard to our Observations in relation to the problem we want to avoid before making a Decision and Acting, and this is never easy.
CUES
So it is important that to avoid 'BANG' we are able to understand what the potential problems are that will negatively affect our lives and the look for (Observe) emerging indicators that these events are about to occur. This is the Observation and Orient part of the OODA cycle. It may seem that we spend a lot of time thinking or worrying about problems, but do we really spend time examining the things that are likely to occur? Probably not, there is a difference between worrying about something and actually identifying those indicators which lead up to the event. The first thing to keep in mind is that we will be very good at identifying some events before they occur because of life experience. For example a diabetic will often be aware of problems with blood sugar levels before it gets to the point of them being life threatening. In this case they can do this because they have often experienced the cues or sources of the 'BANG'. Many events we will not be so easily able to Observe emerging and in these situations we need some cues to use to start to identify problems. The domains, or cue sources discussed by Van Horne and Riley, are:
• Kinesics, people’s conscious and subconscious body language
• Biometrics, human beings’ “uncontrollable and automatic biological responses to stress”
• Proxemics, the way subjects use the space around them and interact with surrounding people
• Geographics, reading familiar and unfamiliar patterns of behaviour within a given environment
• Iconography, the expression of beliefs and affiliations through symbols, and
• Atmospherics, “the collective attitudes, moods, and behaviours present in a given situation or place.”
The important thing to remember is that we do not want to spend huge amounts of time worrying and trying to anticipate the BANG unless it is a life shattering event which we must absolutely avoid. We just need to have a basic understanding of the environment and potential cues as discussed above and be open to observing them occurring in relation to our own situations. Not only will we not have the time to constantly examine every factor, as we have to focus on other responsibilities, but who is able or wants to spend all day worrying about every potential problem unless they are directly related to our safety or work?
THIN SLICING
So using a basic understanding of the cues above and applying the OODA process will allow us to 'thin slice' our decisions. 'Thin slicing' means making decisions with limited time and information but with some information that has a reliable background and with considered experience to fall back on. We only have a thin slice of time or information, usually both. This is realistic too as almost always BANG situations are time or information critical. If we had all the time and information needed to Orient then it would be easy to Decide and Act and so the situation would not be so critical. Of course 'thin slicing' is never 100% reliable but studies show that using this process rather than just reacting to a BANG situation still has much better outcomes for individuals and organisations than just waiting for a problem to occur. The more we get used to the process the better we become, like the person with diabetes who understands their body and the affect of the health challenge on it.
So 'Left of BANG' is about adding some science, or a process to dealing with how we anticipate problems. There is a science to the 'gut feel' or intuition we all have experienced in some way and the more we can understand the components of unexpected events the more effectively we can deal with unexpected situations from a somewhat informed and prepared position. We want to have a think about what problems we absolutely must avoid and be willing to understand the cues which preclude them occurring then use the OODA Loop to Act to avoid or mitigate their affects. Intuition is a powerful tool which has a basis in science which we can harness to protect ourselves from these unwanted events.
www.linkedin.com/pulse/left-bang-some-ways-stay-freddy-warren
May 19, 2015
What is 'left of BANG'? Well it is training philosophy used by the United States Marine Corps and developed by Patrick Van Horne and Jason Riley which helps team members avoid life threatening situations. The idea is that 'BANG' is any negative situation, in the case of Marines a roadside bomb or ambush, sniper or unexpected life threatening situation. In dealing with the situation on a timeline from left to right, 'BANG' is an unexpected and sudden event in the middle which we have to react to it after it has occurred, which is right of 'BANG'.
For example, you interview a potential new employee who has the resume of a lifetime to do the job, but something tells you not to offer a position. You hire them anyway, but after they start they are a disaster, with no people or communications skills that cause long term disruption and damage in the workplace. You spend months trying to fix the damage they have done after they leave, this is the 'right of BANG' reaction. How many times have you talked yourself into getting over your silly “gut” feeling about someone or something and been proven right in retrospect? Is there a way to not just listen to your intuition more, but to actually increase your sensitivity to 'threats' before they happen? Well yes, there is and it is actually relatively simple and takes just a little thought and awareness.
STAYING LEFT OF BANG
Ideally people want to avoid BANG situations, so we want to stay 'left of BANG'. The philosophy is that by having good situational awareness, observing our environment and being aware of problems we can avoid stressful, dangerous or negative situations, or at least be aware that they are about to occur and prepare in advance. So although it may have been developed specifically for dangerous military environments it is certainly a simple concept worth understanding so we can apply it in our daily lives to help avoid our own 'BANG' situations. Maybe they are health problems, financial challenges or workplace health and safety issues, but really our own 'BANGs' can be any negative events that will affect our lives.
To start to identify and avoid our own 'BANGs' we can use the simple concept of identifying what our baseline or 'normal' situation is, look at what anomalies or problems could occur and then act to avoid them. In fact, as with any problem, identifying the potential indicators of 'our BANG' is the hardest part as they are always hidden in the everyday minutia of our lives and almost always occur with little perceived warning, seemingly 'out of the blue' so to speak. Of course this is never the case, there are always warnings, no matter how small. How many times have you heard someone say after a workplace accident, "Oh I just felt something wasn't right", or "We knew things weren't going well"? Rather than rely on this rather useless retrospective knowledge how can we potentially raise the situational awareness of what is happening in our lives and identify emerging 'threats' to our physical safety, workplace efficiency, emotional wellbeing, financial stability or even just everyday lifestyle habits?
OODA LOOP OR BOYD CYCLE
Well one of the first things we can do to understand what is going on around us is to use the OODA process to stay 'Left of BANG'. Observe, Orient, Decide, Act (OODA) was devised by the United States Air Force fighter pilot and military theorist John Boyd as a way for the military to out think, and ultimately outfight their opponents, but really it is a simple and very sound decision making theory that can be applied to almost any process. It is called the OODA Loop or Boyd Cycle and it seems self explanatory, but in relation to staying left of 'BANG' or making a decision, really the most difficult part is the Orient phase. Orient is where we see ourselves, a business, family or even workmates in relation to the situation we are Observing. In avoiding BANG we must be relatively sure in Orientating ourselves in regard to our Observations in relation to the problem we want to avoid before making a Decision and Acting, and this is never easy.
CUES
So it is important that to avoid 'BANG' we are able to understand what the potential problems are that will negatively affect our lives and the look for (Observe) emerging indicators that these events are about to occur. This is the Observation and Orient part of the OODA cycle. It may seem that we spend a lot of time thinking or worrying about problems, but do we really spend time examining the things that are likely to occur? Probably not, there is a difference between worrying about something and actually identifying those indicators which lead up to the event. The first thing to keep in mind is that we will be very good at identifying some events before they occur because of life experience. For example a diabetic will often be aware of problems with blood sugar levels before it gets to the point of them being life threatening. In this case they can do this because they have often experienced the cues or sources of the 'BANG'. Many events we will not be so easily able to Observe emerging and in these situations we need some cues to use to start to identify problems. The domains, or cue sources discussed by Van Horne and Riley, are:
• Kinesics, people’s conscious and subconscious body language
• Biometrics, human beings’ “uncontrollable and automatic biological responses to stress”
• Proxemics, the way subjects use the space around them and interact with surrounding people
• Geographics, reading familiar and unfamiliar patterns of behaviour within a given environment
• Iconography, the expression of beliefs and affiliations through symbols, and
• Atmospherics, “the collective attitudes, moods, and behaviours present in a given situation or place.”
The important thing to remember is that we do not want to spend huge amounts of time worrying and trying to anticipate the BANG unless it is a life shattering event which we must absolutely avoid. We just need to have a basic understanding of the environment and potential cues as discussed above and be open to observing them occurring in relation to our own situations. Not only will we not have the time to constantly examine every factor, as we have to focus on other responsibilities, but who is able or wants to spend all day worrying about every potential problem unless they are directly related to our safety or work?
THIN SLICING
So using a basic understanding of the cues above and applying the OODA process will allow us to 'thin slice' our decisions. 'Thin slicing' means making decisions with limited time and information but with some information that has a reliable background and with considered experience to fall back on. We only have a thin slice of time or information, usually both. This is realistic too as almost always BANG situations are time or information critical. If we had all the time and information needed to Orient then it would be easy to Decide and Act and so the situation would not be so critical. Of course 'thin slicing' is never 100% reliable but studies show that using this process rather than just reacting to a BANG situation still has much better outcomes for individuals and organisations than just waiting for a problem to occur. The more we get used to the process the better we become, like the person with diabetes who understands their body and the affect of the health challenge on it.
So 'Left of BANG' is about adding some science, or a process to dealing with how we anticipate problems. There is a science to the 'gut feel' or intuition we all have experienced in some way and the more we can understand the components of unexpected events the more effectively we can deal with unexpected situations from a somewhat informed and prepared position. We want to have a think about what problems we absolutely must avoid and be willing to understand the cues which preclude them occurring then use the OODA Loop to Act to avoid or mitigate their affects. Intuition is a powerful tool which has a basis in science which we can harness to protect ourselves from these unwanted events.
www.linkedin.com/pulse/left-bang-some-ways-stay-freddy-warren