1. Being in the Zone: The Impact on Critical Decision Making Judith L. Glick-Smith, Ph.D. MentorFactor, Inc. 770-633-5582 judy@mentorfactorinc.com

2. Think of a Time… You arrive on the scene; something clicks You are working toward specific goals Action and awareness merge

3. Think of a Time… You are totally focused on the task at hand You feel a sense of control You are not aware of you own consciousness

4. Think of a Time… Time has no meaning There are multiple opportunities for decisive action You do what you do because that is what you do

5. Flow Being in the zone Game on Bringing your A-game Being one with the activity “The dancer becomes the dance”

6. Creative Suspension Active awareness Triage Resisting the urge to rush in Low levels of inhibition Suspension of judgment Openness to possibilities Active watchfulness and assessment Knowing when the time is right Size-up

7. Gentle Action Subtle in nature Able to refocus energies within the system or event Action without action Rethinking the world Coherence Shared meaning

8. My Story CIIS: Transformative Studies My “Area of Inquiry” Research Synchronicities

9. Worcester December 3, 1999 6 Firefighters lost

10. Kyle’s Story

11. The Participants 16 Firefighters: 8 men; 8 women Rank of Lieutenant or higher Minimum 7 years experience No geographical limitation Interviews conducted in English

12. Demographics 15 Career 1 Volunteer 1 Wildland 10 from medium to large metropolitan departments 4 from suburban departments 2 from rural departments Average 22 years in fire service Most experienced had 37 years in fire service Least experienced had 10 years in fire service

13. The Stories 49 Stories 46 related to an incident 2 related to strategic effort 1 long-term personal story 25 told by the women 24 told by the men 8 stories occurred early in careers 14 Stories Involved Children 9 of these involved caretakers 12 involved death 5 of those 12 involved a LODD 8 stories told by women 6 stories told by men

14. Assumptions There is a relationship between flow and the ability to make appropriate decisions There were common themes that run through the stories of firefighters and in the way they live their lives The firefighting experience is neither gender- nor geographically constrained

15. The Method Sent definitions in advance Began each interview with the definitions Let the firefighter tell his or her stories Analyzed the stories using the characteristics of flow, creative suspension, and gentle action

16. The mind is positively ordered when goals are clear Commands are conveyed clearly Commands are received and understood One knows what to do Clear Goals and Feedback

17. Concurrent and non- linear goals Feedback and the emergent nature of critical incidents The power of intent Clear Goals and Feedback

18. Opportunities for Acting Decisively Opportunities arise from challenge activities that require skill Switching plans on the fly Arriving ahead of everyone else Recognizing visual cues

19. Awareness and Action Merge Awareness is everything Happens at multiple levels Comprehensive awareness enables appropriate decisions Moving without thinking

20. It was as if I had no real choice. It was not so much a decision about what I “ought” to do—rather, I could not do otherwise. At this moment…one arrives at a point where freedom and destiny merge. It was at this point that my words became action. [Jaworski, 1998]

21. Concentration on Task at Hand Concerns outside of flow activity fall away Lack of recognition of others involved in the incident Retaining awareness of dynamics of system Enabled by operational values Helping oneself out of a dangerous situation

22. Confidence: The Sense of Control More precisely: lacking the sense of worry about losing control Facilitated by policies, training, preparation Confidence is a byproduct of flow

23. Confidence: The Sense of Control Feeling good about the incident regardless of outcome Recognition of familiar circumstances A function of knowing what one does well

24. Loss of Self-Consciousness Transcendence beyond ego boundaries Ability to shift leadership styles Ability to separate the self from what needs to be done

25. Loss of Self-Consciousness Commitment to service No judgments about “the other” Willingness to ask for help and expertise

26. Temporal Distortion 18 Stories reflected this characteristic – Time sped up – Time slowed down – Time stood still – No concept of time “Time compresses and expands in weird ways” “Like the individual beats of a hummingbird’s wings….”

27. Autotelic Experience Doing for the sake of doing: “It’s a calling.” The experience is satisfying and enjoyable: “The greatest job on earth.”

28. “The greatest uniform that a man [or woman] can wear is that of a fireman. It is greater than even the army or the navy. Theirs reminds us of the loss of human life, whereas that of the fireman is dedicated to its saving.” [Granito, 2003]

29. How Flow Enhances Decision Making Hyper-focus; hyper- vigilance No planning or vetting of options The individual retains control of psychic energy

30. Flow Doesn’t Always Happen Most calls are routine Physical or mental states not “game on” Barriers to decision making Stress can cause people to shut down

31. Recognition-Primed Decision Making “Thin-slicing” (Gladwell, 2005) Depends on recognizing familiar situations and patterns Action is based on experience and training Intuition grows out of experience

32. Triggers of Flow Something out of the ordinary Threat to personal safety Child involvement (“A woman screaming in the driveway”) Deliberate intent Others?

33. Something Out of the Ordinary Mismatch or anomaly within sphere of experience The person feels challenged Sensory awareness Use of words to describe incident

34. Importance of Training and Experience Lack of training and experience: Tunnel vision Strong training and experience: Hyper-focus Training only goes so far The “slide” concept

35. Optimal experiences are reported to occur within the sequences of activities that are goal-directed and bounded by rules— activities that require the investment of psychic energy, and that could not be done without the appropriate skills. [Csikszentmihalyi, 1990]

36. Operationalizing Flow Put into place mechanisms that facilitate the transformative process into flow – Flexibility: The ability to discovery new solutions while focusing attention on obstacles to reaching goals – High cognitive ability: Attention focused on the world – Low inhibition: Unselfconscious self-assurance

37. Operationalizing Flow Train to minimize reactive choices Employ strategies to develop and share mental simulations (story models, slides) Foster an environment that encourages the ability to imagine positive outcomes

38. Bringing your A-game is “what is needed on very critical situations, where decisions must be made in rapid succession and concurrently…In our business, when you are on your game, that’s when things flow.”

39. Summary Being in the zone seems to have an impact on appropriate decision making It is important to help facilitate the ability to consciously trigger a flow state through training and sharing of stories

40. Questions?