VUCA is a term you hear a lot these days, as it has become common lexicon in many fields. VUCA is an acronym for Volatile Uncertain Complex and Ambiguous.  Law enforcement professionals today live and work in a world of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity. On his website, John Black DBA, says, “Policing is complexity within complexity, and police use of force is arguably one of the most complex things to understand.” The question for you as a trainer is, “Are you preparing your people for this VUCA world through your training?”  To prepare the heroic men … [Read more...]

No AssholesNo BulliesNo Dickheads No EgosNo Toxic Leaders Take a step back and have a long hard look at the people in all positions in your training section and your training cadre. If you have people that fall into the above listed groups then have a courageous conversation with them and let them know this behavior is unacceptable and if they want to continue in their role as a trainer they need to change their behavior. If they are unwilling to change their behavior, then move them out of training positions. This goes for the leadership group as well as the … [Read more...]

During the Excellence in Training course we engage in a number of conversations about ways to use videos more effectively as a powerful learning tool to teach and enhance decision-making, review policy and law and examine tactics. I am not a fan of showing videos for shock value, or showing videos for pure entertainment value. I occasionally get criticized for not using enough videos.  At a recent Excellence in Training Course one of the participants asked, “How many videos is too many to use in a class?” My answer to that question is the same as it is to so many questions, “It … [Read more...]

Treat everyone you teach, train, coach and lead fairly, but do not treat them all the same. They are all individuals. Each person is unique in his or her life experiences, education, understanding and skill levels. They all have different hopes, dreams, fears, needs, and aspirations, which will vary throughout their training and throughout their career.  It is easy to think you need to treat everyone the same, in order to be fair. Doing so however is a disservice to the student and their development and is actually unfair to them.  While the curriculum and standards are consistent, … [Read more...]

My way is a way, not “The Way”.  “The Way” likely does not actually exist.  There are many ways to teach effectively. Every trainer has their own style, their own personality and their own way. His or her way is not “The Way”; it is just a way.  There are core fundamentals of learning and teaching that should weave their way through my way, and your way, but those fundaments do not dictate “The Way” to teach.  There are many styles and systems of control tactics. Each would likely argue that their way is the best way and should be considered “The Way”. I would … [Read more...]

In a recent blog post titled The revolution in online learning Seth Godin addressed some issues that we need to pay attention to in all of our training, in person and online, in the pre-service academy and with in-service training:  Not education, learning.Education is a model based on scarcity, compliance and accreditation. It trades time, attention and money for a piece of paper that promises value.But we learn in ways that have little to do with how mass education is structured.If you know how to walk, write, read, type, have a conversation, perform surgery or cook an egg, … [Read more...]

Last week I wrote about three myths – The 10,000 Hour Rule, 3,000 to 5,000 Repetitions and Muscle Memory. This week I will address two additional myths I continue to read in articles and hear about in presentations and podcast interviews.  Perfect Practice Makes Perfect – If we want to make the most out of practice then there has to be some struggle, some friction, some mistakes from pushing to the outer edges of our skill level, followed by reflection and inherent (internal) and / or augmented (external) feedback. If you are trying to be perfect in practice then you are … [Read more...]

There are a number of myths regarding teaching, training and learning that have been around for years and just won’t seem to go away. In some cases it is simply a matter of, “you don’t know what you don’t know”. You have heard some of these terms and references for years and in some cases from some highly educated and credentialed individuals. You have even read them in books written by some smart people. You may even have been taught these in some of your instructor certification and instructor development courses. I will address three of the most common myths this week and an additional two … [Read more...]

If you are making your own videos to use in your training or making marketing videos for your training or product pay attention to the details in the video.  This is a lesson we learned years ago in my former agency. We had a great in-house video unit who continually won LEVA awards for the videos they produced. They made sure they got our input on scripts for training videos they were going to make, but we quickly learned we needed to have members of our unit there during filming and whenever possible ensured they were using instructors to play the police roles in the … [Read more...]

Last week I wrote about the reality that if you want a professional organization you have to invest in your training and your trainers. I want to expand on the topic of investing in the professional development of your trainers. Most agencies have new instructors attend some form of Instructor Development course. Instructor Development courses however, vary greatly in the quality of the material presented. Some have not updated the curriculum in years. Some provide a lot of theory with limited understanding of the real world application of that theory (Imagined work versus … [Read more...]