Non Intervention as a Strategy

Non-Intervention as a Strategy

If you're setting 
things on fire...learn
how to put them out.

In the first responder world...or any other place, non-intervention (sort of doing nothing) is a strategy or course of action that is on the proverbial menu.  We say, "All fires go out, and all bleeding stops...eventually."  Those two particular categories are not generally well positioned for selecting non-intervention as a way forward.  If it's your house, or your blood, "eventually" isn't something you want to hear in the conversation.  With any decision that has to be made, there are multiple paths (courses of action - COAs) that can be evaluated and selected.  Most of the time in life, these decisions are happening almost autonomously in the background of your brain.  Take, for example, your drive to work and back.  You're generally in a habitual rut and go into a bit of an autopilot to safely traverse your town.  Other times, in new or novel situations (like a disaster), the decision-making takes on a much more robust calculus of weighing options and selecting a plan.  

The ice will melt if
we're ready...or not.  
Get going.

In our lives, we have to make many decisions every single day...some big, most trivial.  Non-intervention is always on the table...but not always a winning way to move forward.  When we do select it, it has to be proactively chosen and selected...not an outcome of analysis paralysis.  For some of our decisions in life, there is the added stress or pressure of time.  We train in the first responder and military world until the core tasks become ingrained.  When we add the pressure of time constraints as instructors, most people hiccup a little.  With practice, your decision-making muscles get stronger with time and exposure.  You can work on some of the crisis readiness as a family by building your decision-making systems and exercising them.  For example, work through "where to eat" or "what to wear" in a systematic way once or twice to test out those muscles.  As they develop, you'll be better positioned to make the right decision on the big ones "where to move," "what job to take," or "what car to buy."   

When we look at decision-making, one of the first steps is to understand the decision itself and the

Finger food is always a good 
option if you were curious.  

ramifications as fully as we can.  In evaluating that, it's been said that we know what we know (the sky is blue, temp is 70 degrees today).  We also, often tend to know what we don't know (the forecast calls for rain later this afternoon) - it's not certain, but we know to ask the question.  The third category, or as it's been called, "the Thin Red Slice" are the pieces of information that we don't know we don't know.  As you're making decisions, going out of your way to understand the decision-making environment is important.  Using our "where to eat" example, the things we know (e.g. we like Mexican food) and the second category, what we don't know (e.g. if the new Mexican place in town is good), are pretty straightforward.  The part we don't know we don't know (e.g. that we might like Mediterranean food, but haven't tried it) is part of the equation.  From there, we can start laying out the courses of action and consequences...upside vs downside potential.  At worst, in this example, we'd be out a few bucks and hopefully have a good meal behind our belt.  

As we practice being intentional, proactive, and thoughtful about our decision-making, it soon becomes a habitual pattern.  We can use the same process for the bigger things - get married, have kids, move across the country, take a gap year, pull the trigger on retirement, or other major milestones.  Any of those things can be managed and moved into...and they're blessings.  When we don't do our proactive homework, they can be nightmares.  A raced-into marriage, a child unplanned, a spur-of-the-moment "take this job and shove it" decision can result in lasting and damaging consequences.  

Getting organized
is probably never
the wrong answer.

Anyhow, getting back to the theme of the post, and pushing the pause button on the big things for a minute while you buy the time for due diligence and research is prudent.  You'll hear that you'll never be fully ready to have a child...there is probably some truth in that...it's also true that 80 years old isn't a great age to start parenting.  That said...you can be more ready than not.  Take the time to get married to the right person (I had a cousin who was at the point of "we'll either have another kid or get divorced)...get your financial orders in some shape, and think through how you'll raise the kiddo, etc.  Using non-intervention intentionally to tackle some milestones, then jumping into action is a win.  In another example, we may use non-intervention with a frustrating job while checking boxes.  "We'll save $1,000/month for moving costs, pay down xx% of our home, and get past the 401k vesting timeline so that by 12/31/20xx, we'll be in a position to move to one of these three places."  With an end in mind, slogging through a hard season...non-intervening...becomes more manageable.  

If you're in a rut,
call the Pony
Express to bring info.

When you find yourself on the edge of analysis paralysis and frozen in the headlights, try to determine the decision-making information threshold (what criteria do you need to make a decision/move to action) and set a timeline for when you'll make the decision...ready or not.  Think through how/where you'll get the information you need...then go do it.  Don't get stuck for 20 years in a rut just by default/defacto.  You've got power in your life and family...embrace that, celebrate it, leverage it, harvest it.  Don't hesitate to hit the pause button...but don't let the pause button keep you from the play button either.  

With you in the arena, from ours to yours...Happy Trails!

Call to Action: 

• Pick out an area of your life where you feel like you've unintentionally had non-intervention as a strategy.  Carefully consider, as a family, if you should take action and how to get there.  List out three mini-actions or information requirements to get to a decision.  
• 1 - ___________________ 
• 2 - ___________________
• 3 - ___________________
• Discussion: Consider what you/your family could/would/should (level of commitment) and start/stop/sustain (action) in some of those "stuck spots" of life.  

Further Reading, Motivation, and References:

- Non-intervention in Fire