By Dale Stewart, Dale Stewart Company

During my career I have focused on training leaders whose task is not to make perfect decisions, but sound decisions in a timely manner. From a practical point of view, one of the most important human skills is decision-making (judgment and choice). Your job as a fire, rescue, EMS professional demands timely and effective decisions to be made. However, the very nature of your work often hinders your ability to make sound decisions. Managing your job involves dealing with uncertainty and complex situations under conditions of acute stress, fear, and other psychological and physiological conditions. Each of these poses a unique challenge to training your next generation of department leaders.

Commanders must face the paradox that their least experienced professional, those with the least experience in decision-making, will face the most demanding decisions during a critical response situation. Seasoned professionals are able to use their experience to understand a situation and determine what is feasible, what is important, and what actions are required in a timely manner. They are not seeking the best option. Just one that works at this point in the developing situation. In this article I will provide some background on decision-making, and beginning tools necessary to understanding the decision-making process.

How do we make decisions? In answering this question you must first understand the fundamentals of decision-making. Effective decision-making refers to the ability to use sound judgment to make decisions based on available information. Technology alone will not resolve a situation; nor will it be able to lift what Clausewitz called "the fog of war" in a rapidly developing situation.

There are two primary models for decision-making. The first is known as analytical decision-making and is based on rational, calculated, and scientific comparison of multiple options. This model is best used when time is not a critical element, and input from many individuals is desired, such as pre-emergency contingency planning. Analytical decision-making does not lend itself well once a situation has begun because it does not work under time pressure. Even when there is time, the model requires much work and lacks flexibility for handling rapidly changing field conditions.

While analytical decision-making is based on a comparison of quantitative options, the second model, recognitional decision-making, depends on experience and intuition to recognize the nature of a given situation. In another word, situational awareness. It does not look for the ideal solution; instead, it seeks the first solution that will work at that moment during the emerging situation. Recognitional decision-making lends itself to rapidly changing, dynamic environments much like what you encounter upon your arrival at an evolving emergency situation.

The number one factor for good recognitional decision-making is experience. Since most decisions that you will make will be made in the face of uncertainty and since all situations have a uniqueness about them, there is no perfect solution. The experienced decision-maker does not agonize over trying to finding one. They are able to recognize a situation as exhibiting manners witnessed before.

This gives them a sense of what a feasible course of action should be and they understand what cues are important and what they may expect next. This does not mean that they carry out the actions without consideration. They carefully consider potential problems and only if things seem reasonable, do they proceed. Remember, the experienced decision-makers are not looking for the best option.

They only want one that works. When an individual uses experience to recognize certain aspects of a situation, allowing for a rapid course of action, we call this a "recognition-primed decision (RPD). This model was developed by noted psychologist, Dr. Gary A. Klein after years of research involving firefighters, and work with the U. S. Department of Defense. It is a two-part process of matching patterns and mental simulation. Pattern recognition starts the decision-making process, but it must be tested through mental simulation. Mental simulation is the way experienced decision-makers test their decisions and determine possible outcomes prior to implementation. In order for mental simulation to work, you must have experience.

For fire, rescue, and EMS personnel to build effective mental simulation models, they must know how things work. For example, in order for firefighters to build a mental scenario of how their decisions will translate into action and the possible outcome of that action they need mental models of the way fires spread, the way various materials react to flames, etc. Until a few decades past, formal training in decision-making, focused almost exclusively on the analytical model.

This began to change thanks to the ideas presented by the late Colonel John R. Boyd, U. S. Air Force. Boyd demonstrated that a person in the midst of conflict continuously moves through a recognitional decision pattern that he termed the "Observe-Orient-Decide-Act Loop" (OODA).

"OODA Loop"

Colonel Boyd pointed out that the individual who moves through this OODA cycle in a timely manner gains a decisive advantage over the situation. He recognized, the chief advantage of recognitional or intuitive decision-making is its speed. It is the normal tendency for the inexperienced under emergency conditions to wait for as much information as possible before making a decision. Of course the longer the decision is delayed, the more opportunities missed. When this happens, initiative may be forfeited to the situation. History has repeatedly demonstrated that battles have been lost more often by a failure to make a decision than by making a poor one.

Each model of decision-making has its strengths and weaknesses; which is better depends on the nature of the situation, particularly on the time and information available. Remember the analytical approach is more appropriate for deliberate planning prior to an event, when time can be measured in hours or days and extensive information can be gathered and processed. The recognitional or Intuitive model, is clearly more appropriate for the fluid, rapidly changing environment of a developing emergency situation, when time and uncertainty are critical factors.

What about factors that affect decision-making? Factors are either transitory, shortness of duration, or enduring, lasting in nature, and are impacted by external or internal factors. The factors remain the same regardless of the decision-making model. Examples of external factors include nutrition, weather, noise, and environmental factors that are a product of the moment. Internal transitory factors include fear, stress, and uncertainty (products of the moment).

Enduring factors may be more difficult to deal with due to their ability to remain relatively constant throughout the situation and include additional internal factors such as cohesion, leadership, and morale. However, not all factors affect decision-makers the same. Some are liabilities like fear, fatigue, and hunger, while others offer advantages, such as cohesion and experience. Therefore, the timeliness, quality, and method of reaching a decision is a function of the sum of factors at a given time.

To build effective decision-makers and leaders Chief's and departmental commanders, must put a plan into place to advance the career aspirations of the men and women who will one day assume decision-making and leadership roles within the department. We know that the effectiveness of intuitive decision-making is dependent upon experience, so you must seek ways to develop that experience.

You must recognize decision-making skills as vitally important and promote its development throughout your training curriculum. Those of you with the responsibility for the safety and well being of the public need to be comfortable with using your intuition under highly stressful circumstances. In short, you must make intuitive decision-making an instinct, and this can only be accomplished through repeated decision-making training and experience. One of the best methods developed to train decision-makers and gain experience is known as tactical decision games (TDGs).

TDGs are a simple, fun, and effective way to improve decision-making ability through practice. The idea behind TDGs is to put the student in the role of a commander facing an emerging situation, give them a limited amount of time and information, and require them to develop a plan of action to solve the problem. One advantage of TDGs is that just as in "real life", there are no absolute right or wrong answers. Tactics are concerned only with what works and there are many ways to solve any problem. However, some plans reflect a better understanding of tactical principles than others.

Remember the objective of the game is to arrive at a workable decision in a timely manner. By repeatedly working through problems like these the students will learn not only to make better decisions, but they will also learn to make decisions more quickly and efficiently. They will start developing the ability to look at a situation and instantly take in its essential features.

In closing remember experience is the great teacher. Unfortunately, in your field, experience can cost. Field Marshal Sir William Slim wrote after taking over British forces in Burma in 1942: "Experience taught us a good deal, but with the Japanese as instructors it was an expensive way of learning." Ultimately, Chief's and department heads are professionally obligated to do whatever they can to enhance, through training courses, the experience of the next generation of decision-makers and leaders. Stay Safe!

Known world wide for his ability to plan, integrate and succeed at missions in some of the most hostile terrains and circumstances on earth. Dale Stewart, has been there, done it, and survived to tell tales and teach lessons learned. He is founder and Managing Partner of REACTION Co. and leads a team of tactical decision-makers who teach their skills to those men and women with a vested interest in the public safety of our citizens. After nearly three decades, of being tasked to perform under circumstances many of us never face, Dale has come to understand what it takes to make critical decisions and how to transfer that knowledge to others. He understands that at the moment of reality in a crisis situation, you and your team's ability to make timely decisions will be the difference between success and failure. Dale and his team are experts and practitioners in the field of survival and tactical decision-making who teach their "in the trenches" experience to other professionals through their unique training programs. Dale may be reached at dstewart@dalestewart.com