A couple of weeks ago I was talking personality with a group of Emergency Managers. They’d recently completed a five factor questionnaire for me as part of a week-long residential programme they were attending. We were discussing how this information could feed into their work in teams, with new teams…
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It’s hard to learn to swim on land. If the real job happens under pressure, some of the training should too
It’s very hard to learn to swim on land. At some point, sooner than later, ya gotta get in the water. I recently participated in a simulation with emergency managers, while they learned by engaging in a deliberately chaotic scenario. Fun, practical, and very, very useful. As an observer, it…
The most expert move under pressure might be to stop trusting your memory
Experts are supposed to know what they’re doing. Right? I think that’s fair. They’re experts after all. What I think we do though, is stretch that further than it should go. One way we do this is to think that ‘experts have deep knowledge and skill’ means ‘experts should know…
A lawyer said her team shouldn’t get sick?
I read an article in the New Zealand Herald about a senior New Zealand lawyer who reportedly told her junior staff they didn’t need sick days, because theirs wasn’t a physical job. When one of them reported a high fever, she apparently suggested it was psychosomatic. You may have seen…
Why couldn’t I think of it at the time?
“But I know this! Why couldn’t I think of it at the time!!” I’ve said versions of this in my head, and occasionally aloud. I’ve heard if after difficult meetings, during clinical events, presentations, and negotiations. You’ve probably heard versions of it too. Basically, someone competent (like you and me,…
Apparently, it takes 23 minutes and 15 seconds to refocus after an interruption
Apparently, it takes 23 minutes and 15 seconds to refocus after an interruption. At least, that’s the rule according to wellbeing programmes, slide decks I’ve seen, the occasional HR newsletter and, perhaps, presentations you’ve sat through yourself. Fast Company ran the 23 minute version in 2013. The Washington Post covered…
What happens to decisions under sustained stress?
I was working with a group of Public Information Managers recently who are in the emergency response space, What a great group of people from across the Canterbury region, and across a range of organisations. Completely dedicated to their work. In brief, I was talking about how cognitive performance degrades…
Mental Health First Aid is not a psychosocial risk strategy
Training mental health first aiders might tick a box intended to sit in a different column, but will not change workload, rosters, communication, role clarity, management styles, leadership, or other factors that we might roll into psychosocial risk. ‘Number of people who attended MHFA’, or ‘20% completed, 35% scheduled within…
The difference between a speak-up channel and a speak-up climate
Having a speak up channel is important organisational infrastructure. It’s different from the organisational climate, which is what people feel when they consider using it. I’d posit that many organisations have a channel, but most have never measured either. Infrastructure, like a physical structure, is easy to point to. We…
When your policies and practice don’t match
When your policies and practice don’t match, or when what you say doesn’t align with what you do. I wrote the other day about Psychological Safety, following the FMA media pieces. Here’s the thing. If I ask you, as an organisation, to show your commitment to a healthy, psychologically safe…