But What If? .........(Revenge of the Learner!)

Following on from my last post about the dreaded ‘what if’ questions, (you know, the ones that if asked enough times will reduce most trainers to quivering wrecks!) Well the other morning I had the best ‘what if’ question-

 “But what if a ‘what if’ happens?

 Did I chuckle?............. Yep!

 However, I then sat and thought about it a bit, cursed, thought a bit more and realised in fact it is a valid question!

 In my last post I did say that the subject of ‘what if’ hardly ever happens, and from my frontline experience and that of others, that statement holds true. However, the bad, mad and plain unexpected does happen, (and, for note, it is these rare and random happenings that the media seize upon and report in such sensational ways feeding a certain amount of fear and paranoia into the social conscience). So what does someone do when presented with one of these situations that forms the fearful ‘what if ‘ question in others?

 Now there is no ‘fix all’ or ‘applicable to all’ technique or formula, but for me understanding certain aspects of conflict, such as fear, (the human stress response), self and situational awareness and ‘frameworks’ will help in a vast majority of situations.

 As I type this I can hear fellow trainers and NLP practitioners scratching their heads and thumbing through notes and conflict training manuals wondering where the hell ‘frameworks’ comes from! Well ‘frameworks’ is a bit of a ‘Powerism’ and comes from my observations of students, especially student officers making the transition from theoretical training to application in real world situations.

 Lets start with frameworks as all the other bits fit into this, pretty much as the name suggests! As part of our human nature we actually like boundaries. It is true that we like to test the boundaries and we often rally against them, but for the majority of us we actually like to know where the limits are. A framework gives us a point of reference and as such a feeling of being in a ‘zone’ that we know and understand. So how does this apply to conflict situation that the student was referring to in the ‘what if’ question?

 Throughout life our boundaries, or frameworks change, this is due to work, peer groups, law, personal situation and pretty much life in general. It is with experience and training that we learn to build or grow our framework. When we become familiar with a situation, or concept we expand our framework around it. So with matters of conflict, even though we cannot experience every conceivable conflict situation in a training room or understand conflict as a whole from one experience, the experience or training will give you reference points that are familiar that you can work from, thereby helping in dealing with the situations you find yourself in.

 For frameworks to work certain elements need to exist within them and they are self and situational awareness! Now, panic not! I’m not going to start going into some Zen meditational exposition, (although there is nothing wrong with a bit of meditation!) I’m talking about understanding what happens to you when you get stressed and in an emotional state, the human stress response, the ‘Fight or Flight’. Also knowing where you are and what is happening around you, what is happening inside your framework?

 Ok, situational awareness and self-awareness for me are interlinked as your physiological state dictates how aware you are of the world around you. In our normal daily lives our level of awareness is actually quite low unless there is something to draw our attention. We ‘bimble’ around thinking of what we are going to have for tea, the work we have to complete and a myriad of other not “here and now” )thoughts racing through our neo cortex. We’re pretty much on autopilot allowing our sub conscience to mind the store. As I’m writing this bit I’m sat in St Pancras station and in under half an hour I’ve heard the phrase “Oh, sorry I was miles away!” or similar in the least 20 times. For those that commute to work I can almost guarantee that the last 2 or 3 miles you drive home you won’t actually be able to recall! This state is Green mode, low awareness, the sitting at home watching TV mode and taking in very little of the outside world. Now this state is fine if you are actually sat at home in your slippers having a cuppa, but whilst your at work, (this applies to any form of work!) or even walking down the street we should really be more aware. Above this is Amber, a state of awareness this is where your senses are working pretty much at optimum. Most people when they start a new job will be in this mode, taking in information from all their senses. This is where we should remain once we go out of doors, but sadly we become complacent and fall back into ‘green’ mode!

 Above this is, as you may have guessed is Red, this is where our emotional brain is hitting all the buttons to release all the hormones to prepare us to either fight or run. In this mode our senses narrow down on to what we perceive as the threat, blocking out the peripheral.

 So in answer to the original question, “What if a ‘What If’ happens?”. To deal with the ‘what if’ that may sometimes happen, you need to work on your ‘framework’! By this I mean use both training and experiences you have had to help you stay in the ‘amber’ zone where you are fully aware of your surroundings and yourself. Don’t become so complacent that you walk around completely detached from the ‘here and now’ and enter the ‘green mode’ when your not watching the telly at home!

 About the author:

Tony is a trainer, consultant and speaker working in both the security and care industries delivering conflict management, physical intervention, and personal safety training.

"As an Expert Witness, and former Police Officer he has a certainly unique and often amusing view point from which he delivers his training. However it is always informative and empowering." 

 Have a question or want to ask about your own training?

Contact Tony directly: tpower@empowermenttraining.co.uk