The Speed of Need...

"The Challenge: Keeping up with events and opportunities at the speed of need"

John G., Sandia National Labs

Incident Commander and Liaison Officer Tent
Decker Fire Incident Command Post

This past Tuesday I had the opportunity to visit the Decker Fire Incident Command Post (ICP) located at the Chaffee County Fairgrounds in Salida, Colorado. Our team included representatives from the federal side of the wildfire mission. What a great experience to meet a few of the men and women in the fight against this wildfire which is being worked by a Type-1 Incident Management Team (IMT).  You could feel the passion and commitment for what they were doing. I am grateful for their service.

Additionally, thank you to everyone who supported us at the ICP on our visit. Your warm hospitality and willingness to let us observe operations, attend briefings, answer what must have seemed like a bazillion questions and have meaningful dialog was simply outstanding. Special thanks to Vickie, Shawna, Flint and Brenda - you guys are awesome - thank you!

One of the conversations we had involved a concept for connecting positions within the ICP with geographically separated organizations in a real-time chat environment. In effect, connecting different people in different organizations, roles, and locations into a single online force.

For example, what if personnel from the:
- National Interagency Coordination Center (NICC)
- Rocky Mountain Geographical Area Coordination Center (RM/GACC)
- Colorado State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC)
- Subject matter experts on __________ (fill in the blank)

...(just to name a few) could connect online in chat with personnel from the ICP using one of the government-sponsored tools described here to collaborate on the latest information, new requirements, etc. and maintain real-time situational awareness/understanding for the fire?

So, two more questions that I believe are applicable to this discussion:
- How does the Incident Commander and their team respond to change while maintaining mission focus and productivity?
- How can sudden opportunities be spotted and addressed rapidly with minimal surprise and disruption?

My experience has shown that operations in a complex, information-rich environment takes a team...and a "team of teams approach."

Is this an expensive, super-involved next step for wildland fire operations? Absolutely not. Implementing this online collaboration concept and coupling it with the right coaching, mentoring and training is low-cost and... it comes with a huge return on the investment.

Given the cost of operations for a wildland fire, it seems the time is right for investing in this concept using today's technology to create a collaborative, online "team of teams."

The HumanNet
John G., Sandia National Laboratories

I am ready to help get this concept off the ground for your team - let's talk.

Humbly,
Collabman

The Life of a Boundary Broker...

Decker Fire burning on the mountain, Salida in the foreground-
Kimmie Randall, Twitter via KOAA News5, 2 October 2019

As I track the growth of the Decker wildfire in Colorado over the past 72 hours (using social media) there are a number of events that caught my eye:

• Significant Growth of the fire
• Mandatory Evacuations
• Colorado State Emergency Operations Center (SEOP) moved to Level 3 to provide support
• A Type 1 Incident Management Team is now in command

Decker Fire, Firefighter Update, 3 October 2019 -
Decker Fire Facebook Page

As a result, I couldn't help but wonder if there is an online, real-time collaboration enterprise supporting all the elements involved to include the Incident Command Post (ICP), Colorado SEOP, etc. and what collaboration chat tool they are using online to tip, cue, share and make sense of the flood of data and information coming at them? In my humble view, this is a perfect situation where an online Human Net could be a force multiplier. 

This also makes me think of the Boundary Broker Concept we developed within the Intelligence Community (IC) that numerous organizations implemented to navigate the world of online chat connecting IC and Department of Defense (DOD) personnel. 

What is a Boundary Broker in an online collaboration enterprise? I am glad you asked...

John G., Research Scientist, Sandia National Laboratories describes a collaboration broker in an online chat environment as someone "who can access the tacit knowledge of the organizational experts while protecting their time and working memory." 

Their role includes:

• Acting as first observers who sit on a team with first responders (analysts, subject matter experts, etc.)
• Using "persistent attention" while engaging in real-time collaboration to discover "situational awareness" and tipper information useful for <fill in the blank> communities
• Brokering information and making connections for customers - both internal and external
• Exchanging information with various organizations, to better understand recent, unfolding, and upcoming events
• Leveraging analyst’s expertise in an attempt to provide quick, accurate information in response to dynamic events

Take a look at the Boundary Broker graphic John G. developed:

Boundary Broker, John G., Research Scientist, Sandia National Laboratories

On the left are descriptions of the collaboration environment encountered outside of the Boundary Broker's organization. On the right is a look at their internal organization and the personnel they have access to in-person and/or via chat on a moment-by-moment basis. Very distinct environments that bring great mission value to the fight. Also, the return on attention (ROI) highlighted on the right-hand side of the diagram is described in the Power of Pull (Hagel, Brown, & Davison, 2010) as the "value we get for the time and effort we invest in focusing on someone or something."

What services can a collaboration Boundary Broker provide to an online enterprise internally and externally? As outlined by John G. in a pilot project (Collaboration Desk Officer) he directly observed and supported, a broker implements uniquely valuable services linking their organization with the crowd in the cloud that includes:

• Relationship service: Connecting people across organizational boundaries

• Questions service: Anyone can ask any mission-related question and get a response that taps the knowledge (not just information) of the community

• Gisting service: Quick, short but accurate situational summaries

• Caveating service: For a situation, make clear what is known, what is unknown, and what is currently thought

• Sensemaking service: For a situation, provide explanatory framework to organize evidence and explain inconsistencies

Additionally, a Boundary Broker can provide these services:

• Opportunity detection service: Identify and highlight external opportunities to assist
• “We’ve got a call for help in the operations chat room”

• Responder discovery service: Identify internal first responders (analysts, subject matter experts, etc.) in the organization to provide assistance
• For complex needs, the best solution may be group and individual self-identification, self-dispatch: “I know the guy who knows that”

• Resource discovery service: Identify sources for needs of internal personnel
• “Any other analysts working this situation right now?”

What are the effects a Boundary Broker can have externally and internally during an incident? Based on the pilot program John G. supported the implications include:

External effects

• Reputation
• Customer affinity
• Customer loyalty

Internal effects

• Fast, appropriate responsiveness
• Coordination
• Resource conservation and investment
• Saving time and effort
• Reduce stress of surprise

So, hear me out. What if...the Decker Fire was being supported by an online, real-time collaboration enterprise and a number of Boundary Brokers were active in the chat - basically serving as basketball point guards. What type of time savings and efforts could be achieved for the team of teams working this fire? How many surprises might be avoided?

“A point guard's job is to create scoring opportunities for his/her team, or sometimes attack the basket. Lee Rose has described a point guard as a coach on the floor, who can handle and distribute the ball to teammates. … Point guards are expected to be vocal floor leaders. A point guard needs always to have in mind the times on the shot clock and the game clock, the score, the numbers of remaining timeouts for both teams, etc.” -Wikipedia

Is this collaborative concept in action today? Maybe it is and I just can't see it. If not, please know this Boundary Broker concept is easy to train, coach and implement - and very cost effective. Let's talk...

Humbly,

Collabman

Lookouts...

"The afternoon of June 26, 1990, as I knelt beside a dead Perryville firefighter, I made a promise to the best of my ability to help end the needless fatalities, and alleviate the near misses, by focusing on training and operations pertinent to these goals."

Paul Gleason - Former Zig Zag Hotshot Superintendent

June, 1991

"LCES and Other Thoughts"

Good day! This week I have taken the opportunity to do some research and understand the background/meaning of an acronym (LCES) that I have encountered while reading numerous wildland fire fighting documents.

A quick look at LCES: "Protection of human life is first priority for firefighters. The elements of LCES form a safety system used by wildland firefighters to protect themselves from entrapment from free-burning wildfires and other fireline hazards. Since 1995, when arriving on a scene, a fire crew will establish safety zones and escape routes, verify communication is in place, and designate lookouts (known in the U.S. by the acronym LCES, for lookouts, communications, escape routes, safety zones)."

What is the role and responsibility of a Lookout in LCES?

• Have experience to recognize potential threats
• Be decisive
• Communicate clearly
• Be in a position to see potential threats and the entire crew
• Be in a safe location

As I explored the LCES concept and specifically Lookouts, I couldn't help but note the similarity to what we developed in our persistence awareness (PA) concept and use of Lookouts during real-world collaboration operations. In our PA concept, the Lookouts were responsible for unblinking environmental scan for mission-relevant change. John G., Research Scientist, Sandia National Laboratories developed the following graphic to depict the function of "Collaboration Lookouts" in maintaining PA for the enterprise. 

Fort Model for Persistent Awareness
Collaboratively Mastering Overwhelming Information
"Keeping Up"
John G., Sandia National Laboratories

Some basic principles for Lookouts in the PA concept, as outlined by John G., included:

• Lookouts must scan the environment at a rate matching information change
• Lookouts must pay attention as many critical threat indicators are subtle and fleeting
• Return on attention will be reduced if Lookouts are hyper-focused on any narrow issue/part of the horizon
• To help analysis, Lookouts can not perform analysis

Furthermore, we trained our Lookouts to:

• Look for and notice the subtle vibrations related to unanticipated threats for personnel, equipment and structures
• Be decisive in alerting the crowd in chat rooms to what they were observing/hearing and dialog as part of the sense-making
• Communicate clearly using chat
• Access and pay attention to hundreds (if not thousands) of chat rooms looking for the unexpected
• Do all of the above from a safe location 

Sound and look familiar? Bottom line - Collaboration lookouts are not distracted with building reports, making powerpoint charts, attending briefings or analyzing information.

To wrap-up, I continue to be encouraged with the similarities and opportunities of the collaboration concepts developed/executed in my previous career with what I am seeing in the emergency response world today. So, humor me a little as I think out loud...

Does the wildland fire community use an online collaborative Lookout in their chat tools in a similar way the Intelligence Community (IC) and Department of Defense (DoD) teams use Lookouts as part of their Human Net? If not, why not?

Thoughts?

Humbly,
Collabman

Silos of Excellence...

“In order for collaboration to take place, managers must give up their silos and their perceptions of power.” 

Jane Ripley, Collaboration Begins with You: Be a Silo Buster

Morning and happy Tuesday. Given the Apple Event is underway today (yes, I am an Apple Guy and I enjoy the new technology developments) I couldn't help but reflect on my look last week at the collaboration technology in use by the emergency response community. There are some pretty slick tools that have been developed but... 

I couldn't help but wonder if they have inadvertently created silos of excellence? For example:

• Which collaboration tool do I use during a complex incident (i.e., wildland fire, hurricane, etc.) and who makes that decision? 
• How does a unity of effort or team of teams strategy get factored in when deciding which tool to use? 
• What type of interoperability exists between these collaboration tools - that is, do they talk to each other and if not, why not?
• How challenging is it to build a collaboration concept of operations and enterprise when there are so many tools in play?
• What type of collaboration tradecraft, coaching and best practices are provided to the users of these tools or is it a pick-up basketball game and they make it up when they "show up?"
• What type of collaboration facilitation is used in these chat spaces and what are the expectations when you show up?

Once upon a time I was in a community where new, innovative collaboration tools would encounter a not invented here (NIH) backlash which ultimately drove who used what tool - which created a fractured community. Fortunately, over time the Chief Information Officers and staff from various organizations stepped in and began asking hard questions. Why do we have so many collaboration tools with similar, if not identical capabilities? What is the cost financially in operating this way? What is the cost from a mission perspective of fracturing a community that desperately needs to collaborate and share information? Tough questions that repeatedly exposed an NIH approach to collaboration tools.

Here is a quick overview (in no particular order) of the collaboration tools being used today by federal, state, local, tribal and/or non-government organizations providing emergency response services at the unclassified level. A few of these tools have been accredited/authorized to operate at the For Official Use Only (FOUO) document designation level. These snapshots were taken from each tool's website and/or fact sheet.

1. Domestic Operations Awareness and Assessment Tool (DAART): The DAART system was developed by the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command, Future Warfare Center for the National Guard Bureau (NGB) in support of multiple mission areas including supporting local civil authorities. The Incident Awareness and Assessment information processed by the DAART system is used to assist authorities in responding to disasters for the purpose of saving lives, mitigating suffering, minimizing serious property damage, and protecting vital infrastructure, resulting in a cumulative effect of expanding collaboration, providing greater access and distribution of the information, and promoting user focus on analysis and  operations versus mere viewing of the information. The system is in daily use by NGB forces for many national and local events, including natural disasters. DAART is powered by the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command (SMDC) Future Warfare Center (FWC) Advanced Warfare Environment (AWarE) Software Suite. The DAART fact sheet is here: 

2. Situational Awareness and Collaboration Tool (SCOUT):  ​The California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES)—​in association with the California Department  of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) and through a strategic partnership with the Department of Homeland Security’s Science & Technology Directorate (DHS S&T)—acquired the Next-Generation Incident Command System (NICS) software for use by California’s emergency services professionals. The California deployment of the NICS software is called Situation Awareness and Collaboration Tool (SCOUT). SCOUT provides an information sharing environment to facilitate operational and tactical collaboration among California emergency responders and interagency situational awareness for local, tribal, state, and federal partners for small to extreme scale homeland security incidents, such natural disasters, technological hazards, intentional attacks, and human-caused emergencies. SCOUT is sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate, and is being developed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory in partnership with the operators from the California First Responder Community. SCOUT description is here.

3. All Partner Access Network (APAN): The All Partners Access Network (APAN) is the premier unclassified information sharing and collaboration enterprise for the United States Department of Defense (DOD). APAN provides the DOD and mission partners community spaces and collaborative tools to leverage information to effectively plan, train and respond to meet their business requirements and mission objectives. APAN makes these tools available over the open internet so individuals and organizations who do not have access to traditional DOD systems and networks can participate in information sharing and collaborative events. APAN overview is here.

4. RocketChat: The is the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) chat tool that allows users to experience the next level of real-time team communication--all behind the NGA firewall. Users can access RocketChat from anywhere, including web browsers, desktops, and mobile applications. The app’s customizable features allow users to tailor profiles by adding avatars; identifying favorites; and setting security, localization, and notification preferences. RocketChat is open-source software that NGA has enabled for enterprise use. RocketChat overview is here.

5. FireNet: FireNet enables interagency access for all National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) partners and those supporting wildland fire management to a centralized and secure network of resources including email, calendaring, documents, customized portal sites, and much more. A primary goal of FireNet is to provide services and functionality provided by commercial providers yet in a government-sanctioned and government-approved system. FireNet is a Google-based web environment with the security of a .gov site. FireNet enables NWCG partners to meet their business needs for collaboration and provides the full suite of applications with which users of Google products are familiar. FireNet facilitates intergovernmental teamwork by providing a collaborative workspace to message, schedule, share, review, develop, and store materials among federal, tribal, state, local, and territorial stakeholders in support of national wildland fire management. FireNet is here.

FireNet does have some challenges in that both U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Department of Interior (DOI) Chief Information Officer (CIO) offices do not readily support the current Google environment due to growing security concerns. Items, such as data location hosting, data sovereignty, and overall government compliance are being scrutinized and required for all government services. Additionally, wildland fire leadership is concerned that the long-term cost of the current licensed environment is too expensive to support as an independent service indefinitely. As such, both have requested the FireNet project team conduct an analysis of the required capabilities of the FireNet environment, and what next generation technical solutions could be provided to meet security and cost constraints.

6. FireNet 365: In June 2019, The FireNet Program Team coordinated a list of capabilities required to be provided through the FireNet environment. It is evident that opportunity exists for the FireNet environment to be hosted in a more secure and cost-effective environment through Microsoft Office 365 (MS O365) licensing. DOI is moving from BisonConnect in its current Google hosted environment to an MS O365 environment, occurring primarily between September 2019 and March 2020. With DOI moving to a MS O365 environment, the FireNet environment gains the opportunity to potentially leverage the federally credentialed licenses of wildland fire operations within both USDA/FS and DOI and associated bureaus. The FireNet Program Team is diligently moving forward with transition and implementation through both USDA/FS and DOI Chief Information Offices and interagency wildland fire leadership to determine the best path forward for the next generation of the FireNet environment to support the capability requirements of the interagency wildland fire community. Note: MS 365 includes Outlook, OneDrive, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, Yammer, and more.

An impressive list of tools but what is their effect on operations?

I would love to talk about how to tackle these challenges. My time is yours...

Humbly,

Collabman

The McDonald Doctrine...

"Nobody knows much but together we may know enough."

- Jolt

Happy Wednesday...

Weeks prior to the invasion of Iraq in March, 2003 I had the opportunity to be part of a team that piloted a new collaboration concept using a best effort, Monday-Friday, 8-hours-a-day schedule. It was one of the most challenging yet enjoyable initiatives that I had been a part of up to that point in my career. Additionally, I was fortunate to partner with a close friend and the concept, built around a light-weight chat tool (with additional capabilities), got its start on a whiteboard in a conference room. We waved our arms, marked up the board with the concept, talked to the possibilities of connecting people scattered around the globe and with every drop of passion we could muster - asked for and received approval to prototype a crazy, potentially disruptive collaboration idea. 

The concept would quickly get fully resourced, trained and moved to 24x7 watch operations just days before hostilities commenced in Iraq. We had no idea how effective it would be and how it would open the door for follow-on innovation in the years to come. Most of all, we were somewhat surprised by the development of online collaboration tradecraft, principles and best practices that were born out of a "learn by doing" approach. 

Why the look back at what happened 16+ years ago? 

These past two weeks I have been researching and evaluating the various collaboration technologies that are in use by the emergency management community supporting multiple mission areas. Many of today's tools are focused on providing a real-time information sharing environment (enabled by chat, shared files, video, audio, etc.) to facilitate operational and tactical collaboration for emergency responders to connect with the local, tribal, state and federal organizations responding to the incident. Many of you may be familiar with these missions under the umbrella commonly referred to as Humanitarian Assistance/Disaster Relief (HA/DR).

As I began the research, which aligned nicely with the approach of Hurricane Dorian, I was struck by the limited use of some very capable collaboration tools. Now, it is possible that the workspaces supporting Hurricane Dorian were locked down in the various tools and not visible. That would be a topic for another blog.

The two tools where I expected to see vibrant, rich collaboration and information sharing for Dorian were DAART and/or APAN. Unfortunately, that's not what I observed. Yes, DAART had a number of workspaces carrying the Hurricane Dorian name but only one was "active" and it carried infrequent, minimal collaboration from a handful of users. APAN showed no reflection it was being used for this beast of a storm. 

All of this reminded me of the statement I heard/read multiple times from a talented, skilled, innovative and really smart guy who was hand-picked to be part of the initial small cadre of individuals that staffed the 2003 collaboration concept I referenced above. I nicknamed it the McDonald Doctrine in his honor and it became a common reference for me (and others) during the many collaboration boot camps taught in the following years. This was our early challenge in 2003 with collaboration and information sharing in the Department of Defense world of operations and Mr. McDonald addressed it clearly and concisely (as he did with many other challenges).

McDonald Doctrine: "Show up, get in the fight and contribute!" 

Yes, it was that simple but it clearly spoke to the human challenge we were confronted with in the day. 

1. Show up: The collaboration tool available at that time (Information WorkSpace - IWS) was mandated and available all across our community. However, we struggled to get people to login and give it a go. Email and phone calls, which were the comfort and channel apps (i.e., if you were lucky enough to be addressed on an email or were included on the phone call, you were in the channel) of the day, remained the dominant tools of choice and were being held on to by many with white-knuckles.
2. Get in the fight: For those who did launch and log in to the IWS tool, they quickly became lurkers and rarely engaged in public chat. 10% of the crowd in a chat space carried 90% (or more) of the work load. Yet, the lurkers had value-added and in many cases, mission-critical information that they continued to receive/share in email/phone channels.
3. Contribute: Jolt (my partner in crime at the time) would frequently comment that "...we may not know much but together we may know enough." In those early days we struggled with getting folks who were logged in to share value-added information and be part of the team of team's dialog to make sense of what it meant, what might happen next...in time to make a difference.

I wonder if today's community working emergency response operations might be struggling a little with what I call the McDonald Doctrine? 

If not, where is everyone collaborating in the online world for HA/DR missions like Hurricane Dorian? 

For those who have shown up in the online tool, what collaboration tradecraft and best practices training have they been provided? Or is it limited to tool training?

How is all of the tactical and operational information being shared for an HA/DR incident and...is it being seen by everyone who needs it?

More questions than answers...

Humbly,

Collabman

Iron Sharpens Iron...

“As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”

- Proverbs 27:17

South Metro Station 34

Good day and happy Thursday...

Yesterday was an interesting and insightful time for me as I was honored to spend the morning with the South Metro Station 34 Fire and Rescue team. I received a first-hand look at their station, equipment and an impromptu look at some training they were conducting.

Special thanks to my host and the rest of the team at Station 34 for the "down and in" tactical look. They were very gracious, accommodating and welcoming. Thank you seems inadequate for all you do every day but, thank you. 

I witnessed a talented, skilled and passionate team on-duty yesterday equipped with some sophisticated, state-of-the-art technology and equipment plus some old school gear that enables them to do what they do best - save lives.

The Irons -
Axe and Halligan Tool

Upon arrival, I had the opportunity to observe several team members conducting training for forcible entry, a basic duty for all firefighters that can be a daily occurence. Of course I asked a lot of questions as I watched them use The Irons (i.e., axe and halligan tool) on the training door. Think those tools are simply a fashion statement for firefighters? Hardly. Do they work to preserve the integrity of the door - indeed. Irons are the tools that firefighters routinely use, especially if hydraulic forcible entry tools are not available or in their arsenal. I enjoyed observing the experienced team members sharing, mentoring and working with a more junior firefighter on the art of entry and the tactics for external opening and internal opening doors. An impressive display of iron sharpening iron with the team from Station 34. Yes, the tech and equipment they use is impressive but ultimately when they respond it is about the team work, trust, training - the human dimension.

Oh, the halligan tool - what a clever and versatile tool. Unfamiliar with the tool and its origin? Give this article a read.  An impressive and capable invention, especially in the hands of a South Metro Station 34 Fire and Rescue firefighter. 

The remaining time was spent looking at the Fire Station and discussing the capabilities of Tower 34, Rescue 34, Tender 34 and Medic 34 vehicles. What an impressive array of equipment. 

I will leave with you with some photos I snapped as my host allowed me in to each vehicle and talked me through its capabilities and how/when it is employed. If you ever have an opportunity to visit a fire station in your area or observe their training - do it! You will learn a lot and have a better understanding of the outstanding heart, skill and character of these first responders who put their lives on the line for you and me - every day. We are fortunate to have them in place 24x7, 365.

Tower 34 - Towers carry an assortment of equipment including ground ladders, forcible entry tools, extrication equipment, water (~300 gallons), pump and hoses, manned by a crew of four firefighters. 

Tower 34 Truck

Rescue 34 - A specialized vehicle used by the technical rescue team to respond to emergencies like building collapse, vehicle extrication and large structure fires.

Rescue 34 Truck

Tender 34 - South Metro operates 6 water tenders which are staffed when needed by the Engine, Tower or Medic crew housed with them. South Metro protects many areas without fire hydrants which requires them to bring their own water to extinguish fires. All of their tenders carry around 3,000 gallons of water.

Tender 34 Engine

Medic 34 - Staffed with a crew of two firefighters, of which one is a paramedic. They respond to all types of emergencies and can transport patients to the hospital. The powered gurney lift is a great addition to this vehicle and a back saver!

Medic 34

I expect you are also wondering if they still use a fireman's pole to get from the top floor of the station to the ground floor - yep, they sure do.

Station 34 - Fireman's Pole

Humbly,
Collabman

Gut Feeling...

"You Know Normal...and When Something is Off."

Good afternoon. It has been a busy couple of weeks and these next two weeks are no different. Keep listening, keep learning, keep moving - that's my rhythm. Life is short, make it sweet.

I finished my third listen of the one hour and 40 minute interview with two first responders here in Colorado as they talked through the questions I listed in a previous blog here. To recap, one individual was with the "red" team (Fire and Rescue) - an experienced, super talented fire and rescue veteran who has also served as a Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) medic. SWAT medics are usually paramedics who have received specialized training in tactical medicine. They provide tactical medical care in situations that are often too dangerous for regular paramedics or ambulance workers. 

In addition to the "red" team member, we also honored to have a very seasoned and skilled member of the "blue" team (Law Enforcement) who is currently serving as a SWAT team member here in Colorado.

When the recording was over I couldn't help but remember a statement from David Smith, The Guardian journalist who was embedded in the 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment (my son's unit) during combat operations in Iraq in the fall of 2007. David said in his article Apprehensive? Oh Yes "The confidence of the 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment platoon was infectious. If you had to trust your life to anyone, these professional men with their hi-tech weapons would be high on the list. Yes, they said, they still feel fear, but with routine they learn to control it: fear breeds alertness, and is better than getting cocky or casual."

Needless to say, I would trust my life to any of the first responders I've interviewed...and their teams. That's how good they are especially when it matters most. They leave nothing to chance and are constantly leaning in with their training to stay sharp and ensure they maintain an edge, regardless of the adversary or challenge. 

If you listen to them talk about their individual and team situational awareness (SA) it becomes clear just how important the human dimension is as they take in and process information during the initial call, en route, when they arrive on-scene and as the incident dynamically unfolds. Do they have computers in their vehicles displaying the latest information? You bet. Is it accurate? Is there an algorithm running that connects it all and makes sense of the puzzle pieces before they arrive? Is there an algorithm running that adjusts to new information, shares implications and updates them with what will happen next? Not a chance...

From the time a call comes in from dispatch these first responders are thinking, talking and working to form a mental SA picture of what to anticipate, while maintaining the ability to adapt. Take a look at the graphic below that my former Collaboration Operations team put together to highlight and contrast what machines do well...and the human piece.

Both individuals spoke to most, if not all of the items in the human list above as they processed what they were hearing from dispatch as well as what they observed when they arrived on scene. It was interesting to hear them describe the initial information received and more importantly how they factored in their experience and training with subtle indicators such as the language used to describe the incident, number of calls received for the incident, etc. 

Once on-scene, and especially if the incident reportedly involved an active threat, their awareness and sensing of sounds, smells, movement, human behavior, etc. was at a heightened level. Risk and threat were constantly being assessed - "...you know normal and when something is off."

None of what they and their team were doing is tech-driven. None of it. The same holds true for why the Human Net in collaboration is not about the tech. It is about the human dimension and leveraging those capabilities that tech cannot bring to the fight when ambiguity and chaos is overwhelming.

Technology is easy to talk about and deploy. The human dimension? That's what we typically overlook.

Humbly,
Collabman