Last week I wrote about the power of 10-minute training blocks to micro dose and slow drip training throughout the year, year after year.  Those 10-minutes daily training sessions should become part of the agency culture and not just for patrol personnel. Part of the shift to making it a key element of the organizational culture is to get people to think of training as an agency wide responsibility, and not just the responsibility of the small cadre of people assigned to the Training Section.  Some of the possibilities to expand the Tribe of Trainers could … [Read more...]

In my Excellence in Training workshops, I talk about the value of 10 minutes of training a day. One of the first questions people have is, “What topic can you cover in 10 minutes?” Here is a better question, “What topic can you not break down into 10-minute chunks?” Every topic can be broken down into 10-minute bit size chunks to be delivered at the start of a shift.  The next question is, “What is the benefit of 10 minutes of training a day at shift briefing?” There are a whole host of benefits, some of which include: 10 minutes a day creates the mindset of ‘every day is a training … [Read more...]

Most people are familiar with the Four Levels of Competency Model: Unconscious Incompetent – I don’t know how to do something, but I don’t know that I don’t know because I have never attempted it.Conscious Incompetent – I now know that I don’t know how to do it.Conscious Competent – I can do it, but I need to think about it to complete the task.Unconscious Competent – I have trained the skill to a level of automaticity so I can do it without having to think about it.  You can likely relate to these levels when you think about the progression of learning to drive a car or learning to … [Read more...]

During the first day of an Excellence in Training course last year one of the participants was asking some very good questions in class regarding application of some of the content. Before his second or third question he said, “I don’t want to take up too much of your time.” My response was, “It’s not my time. It is your time. I am here for you, not the other way around.”  His comment struck me as interesting and caused me to reflect and wonder if, as trainers, we have conditioned people to believe that is our time and that it is about us. Have we led them to believe that we … [Read more...]

"It is good for a professional to be reminded that his professionalism is only a husk, that the real person must remain an amateur, a lover of the work." May Sarton, Poet  This quote caught my attention when I first read it but I was curious about the use of the word “amateur”, so I did a little digging. According to Wikipedia the word “amateur” comes from a French word meaning: "lover of". An amateur is someone who does something (e.g. play the piano, football) because they enjoy doing it. The online Merriam-Webster Dictionary explains, “The earliest sense … [Read more...]

The following excerpt from one of James Clear’s 3-2-1 Thursday newsletters has an important message for all trainers: "The longer you're a teacher, the less you remember what it is like to be a student. The longer you're a doctor, the less you remember what it is like to be a patient. The longer you're a coach, the less you remember what it is like to be a player. Change positions. A new perspective can improve your old methods." Have you forgotten what it is like to be a new student, a new white belt, a novice shooter, or a new recruit?  When was the last time you were … [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 know I was. I have been guilty of perpetuating some of these myths in the … [Read more...]

If you have been following me for any time you know I am a fan of Seth Godin’s work and a reader of his daily blog. Below is a recent post titled Recipes. It is just four sentences but has an important message for trainers.  One sort of job requires people to follow a recipe.Another, better sort of job requires people to understand the recipe.If you understand it, that means you can change it. You have resilience and insight and the leverage to make it better. Think of a lesson plan as the recipe. If you want to be a good trainer, maybe even a great trainer, you must go … [Read more...]

Call response times. Number of calls handled. Number of arrests. Number of tickets issues.  Number of property crimes. Number of violent crimes. Total numbers of calls for service. Use of force numbers. These are all numbers we tend to track and pay attention to.   Are we however, ignoring some of the other critical numbers such as: Hours of sleep every day.Body weight.Percentage of body fat (as weight alone can be deceiving).Blood pressure. Daily activity levels.Numbers of workouts per week.Bank account balances.Balance in your personal retirement fund … [Read more...]

Dan Dworkis MD PhD, an emergency room physician, author of The Emergency Mind and host of the Emergency Mind Podcast talks about four key elements to performing at the highest level on a continual basis.  Prepare – Perform – Recover – Evolve Take a few minutes to reflect on these four elements and ask yourself, “Which of these am I neglecting? How many of these are we neglecting as an organization?”  Prepare is about ongoing training and learning. How often are you training your mind, body, and craft? You may work our regularly, although too many in the … [Read more...]