fn/form
01-27-2014, 09:49 PM
Aaron Cowan of Sage Dynamics recently wrote a two-part guest commentary on mindset "problem" officers.
"Mindset: More than Acronyms and Color Codes" Part I (http://www.breachbangclear.com/site/10-blog/554-mindset-more-than-acronyms-and-color-codes.html) Part II (http://www.breachbangclear.com/site/10-blog/555-mindset-more-than-acronyms-and-color-codes-part-2.html)
Cowan's brief treatment of mindset problems hit home on two fronts of training. The first was a remembrance of past LE experience. LE mindset "problem" people are a captive audience. Meaning the instructor and trainee both can't get out of it. In my department there was a lack of proactive effort to understand and solve or at least better the problem. I like Cowan's 11B Psyops. Instead of repeating predictable failures, keep digging at the outlying personal motivations. Total idiots aside, there is much merit to this approach. Even if it simply shifts from 100% negativity in their minds to simply thinking about it more along intended lines. In a critical incident, that's huge, even if nowhere near ideal.
On the home front. As "gun" people we are sought out by family or good friends of theirs to "teach them how to shoot". Usually in regard to a looming fear or on the heels of a frightening incident. This is the willing audience (even if unwittingly so), in contrast to the captive audience above. In the brief time we have with them it is very important to find the personal buy-in that Cowan mentions. The few hours we spend in basic mechanics may be lost quickly. However, connecting the dots between mindset + capable stress performance = competence, this may remain much longer. This is what helps lay the foundation for a Safe Shooter who wants to do it the Right Way.
"Mindset: More than Acronyms and Color Codes" Part I (http://www.breachbangclear.com/site/10-blog/554-mindset-more-than-acronyms-and-color-codes.html) Part II (http://www.breachbangclear.com/site/10-blog/555-mindset-more-than-acronyms-and-color-codes-part-2.html)
Cowan's brief treatment of mindset problems hit home on two fronts of training. The first was a remembrance of past LE experience. LE mindset "problem" people are a captive audience. Meaning the instructor and trainee both can't get out of it. In my department there was a lack of proactive effort to understand and solve or at least better the problem. I like Cowan's 11B Psyops. Instead of repeating predictable failures, keep digging at the outlying personal motivations. Total idiots aside, there is much merit to this approach. Even if it simply shifts from 100% negativity in their minds to simply thinking about it more along intended lines. In a critical incident, that's huge, even if nowhere near ideal.
On the home front. As "gun" people we are sought out by family or good friends of theirs to "teach them how to shoot". Usually in regard to a looming fear or on the heels of a frightening incident. This is the willing audience (even if unwittingly so), in contrast to the captive audience above. In the brief time we have with them it is very important to find the personal buy-in that Cowan mentions. The few hours we spend in basic mechanics may be lost quickly. However, connecting the dots between mindset + capable stress performance = competence, this may remain much longer. This is what helps lay the foundation for a Safe Shooter who wants to do it the Right Way.