Transition and Movement - Change is Constant
We are moving from Hazardscape to a new name. For now call us ?. We will pick a new one when we are ready. Please read our story.
We are moving from Hazardscape to a new name. For now call us ?. We will pick a new one when we are ready. We hope you read our story.
The Beginning
In 2019 I embarked on a journey to use a private sector company as a way to introduce coaching into the discipline of emergency management. The company was called Hazardscape because it means:
“The cumulative emergency management environment, composed of all hazards, risks, vulnerabilities and capacities present in a given area.
I like how Hazardscape means cumulative or more that just one thing. Sine 2019 Hazardscape became a ‘WE’……….myself, and others, have designed and delivered coaching programs and incident response training for:
The NAIT Disaster and Emergency Management Diploma Program
Medicine Hat College Crisis Leadership Program
Parks Canada
Virbela
Lethbridge College
The Town of Stony Plain
The Canadian Mental Health Association - Alberta Division and Rosetown Saskatchewan Region
Various directors at a number humanitarian based not-for-profits
While on this journey we have approached dozens of other organizations about their interest in coaching. We met with some, and others did not see a fit with Hazardscape’s Disaster and Emergency Management roots.
Transforming but never forgetting
During this journey we came to realize that the name Hazardscape was not communicating our potential and capability as a coaching studio. It was confusing a lot of the market place and we were missing out on opportunities. We needed a better way to communicate our potential. It was very difficult to admit but the name Hazardscape no longer described our capability and desire to support other professions, disciplines, and sectors. It also held us back from partnering with organizations that did not have a sole focus on public safety. As a consequence, our ability to be diverse and inclusive was at risk.
? will not do away with its disaster risk reduction roots but we are transitioning to a more inclusive and diverse studio that can serve a wider audience.
Another step towards reconciliation
As a Canadian based organization, it’s important that we take part in reconciling relationships with Indigenous people and communities. We want to do this as part of our commitment to Truth and Reconciliation and because we believe past, present, and future colonial practices and systems can’t move Canada forward. We need Indigenous World views to move us into the future.
This led to developing a strategy that would aid us in designing and developing programs and curriculum that integrate Indigenous ways of learning and knowing with Western practices. This integration allows us to transcend the training room or workshop so learning, professional development, culture, and human connection is what drives a community or organization to transform and adapt.
As an educator, ? will be moving into the future with the 4 Rs of Indigenous education as our guiding value system: Respect, Reciprocity, Relevance, and Responsibility plus the First People Leaning Principles.
Learn more about our coaching here
What does this mean for Hazardscape, the platform, social accounts….so on?
For anyone that we currently work with and communicate with through contracts, the Hazardscape platform, our Social Media, and volunteer work you won’t experience must change right now. Hazardscape Management Inc. is still a legal federal corporation in Canada and will remain the parent company for ? All of our branding will be updated at some point. Nothing will be too quick as we want our community to help decide on what ? is actually called and how it is presented. All Social Media, the Hazardscape Platform, contracts, and volunteer work will continue as normal.
Any videos/interviews I have done will continue to be promoted and posted so interviewees will continue to be recognized for their work, products, and services.
In the meantime if you have feedback, questions, comments, or would like to know more please reach out directly to Brad.
Your Take Home Message
? will have an expanded reach into all parts of a community or organization in new sectors, professions, and disciplines. This includes positions outside of emergency management related to:
technology,
agriculture,
forestry,
research and development,
distribution,
waste management and more!
This Blog May Be Done But We Are Not
Thanks for reading. If at anytime you would like to learn more an discuss how ? can support you, your community, or your organization please reach out anytime. We are always looking to transform and move with new partners in a way that benefits us all.
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Eradicating Cultures of Criticism
OPPOSING IDEAS HELP TEAMS SEE ALL SIDES OF AN ISSUE.
But when leaders criticize disagreement turns personal, it can derail projects and destroy relationships if left unattended.
OPPOSING IDEAS HELP TEAMS SEE ALL SIDES OF AN ISSUE.
But when leaders criticize, disagreement turns personal, it can derail projects and destroy relationships if left unattended.
Criticism should not be confused with critical thinking. Critical thinking is an intellectual process that takes skill and time. Criticism is generally a conclusion about someone or something that is nested in bias and negativity.
We have all experienced it, judgment, or some type of expression of disapproval that is based on another person’s perception of us, our faults, or our past mistakes. And for a lot of us, we are part of teams and organizations that view criticism as a positive leadership trait (more positive than risk taking, creative thinking, or developing collaborative environments).
In a lot of settings, it sometimes seems to be a race.
Who can criticize the fastest, who can pick apart a report, framework, or policy the most
Who can tally up the most criticism points to look the smartest or most experienced
Cultures of criticism exist because teams are not setting the stage properly for growth and improvement. Instead of developing a culture that seeks feedback to improve.
Teams need to spend time discussing the appropriate ways to ask for and receive feedback. It’s about developing a culture where people know how to ask for feedback and a culture where people know how to provide it. There also needs to be a lot of work done to remove conflict and increase productive opposition.
When teams and individuals have a history of conflict it means they are starting to take things personally. When we start to take things personally we start to lose sight of the bigger picture and we enter self-preservation mode. But! when we can move out of conflict and into productive opposition we start to innovate and create.
As a leader, you know conflict in the workplace is uncomfortable, expensive, and counterproductive. So how do you solve the problem so everyone can get back to work? Our solutions guide teams on how to take the right approach to stop conflict in its tracks. Hazardscape is training teams and organizations to use data to enhance their Relationship Intelligence (RQ). Opposing ideas help teams see all sides of an issue. Without healthy opposition, teams won’t innovate or solve big problems. But when disagreement turns personal, it can derail projects and destroy relationships if left unattended.
RQ allows teams to embrace diversity, navigate conflict, and power through obstacles with smarter, more effective decisions. Contact us to find out more or visit our RQ page.
How the leaders of yesterday can best support the next era.
By letting go of their expertise to make room for empathy, listening, and supporting, the leaders of yesterday have an opportunity to develop better, stronger, and better performing leaders for tomorrow. They can do this through a coaching mindset that positions them to co-create relationships with new leaders
LEADERS NEED TO LET GO OF THEIR EXPERTISE
Solutions are not formed by telling your team what to do and how to do it. Transform your credentials into support for the next era.
Leaders who have performed well and taken their teams, communities, and organizations from where they were, to where they are, have a wealth of knowledge and lived experience. If it was not for these trailblazers we would not be where we are today. At some point, they need to let go of their expertise, their experiences, file away their certificates, and start a new path of development. The problems and challenges they faced over the decades are not the same problems that the next era of leaders will face tomorrow.
When someone is in the role of expert, there is a pressure placed on them to have all of the answers, present solutions, and guide the group. This expectation reduces their ability to practice effective listening; however, if they are trained as a non-directive coach, the pressure of being the expert is reduced and there is an increased ability for them to listen. It also means they are not jumping to solutions or judgement. This way of working is more productive as we all know that when a team develops their own solution, there is a higher chance of success than when someone else develops it and recommends they implement it.
They have more to offer the next era of disaster and emergency managers than their expertise and credentials. They have an opportunity to listen, empathize, and support the next era of leaders using a coach approach. It’s an opportunity that is more productive than traditional emergency management training, mentorship, and consulting.
The opportunity for leaders, that are transitioning out of their current role of expert, is to listen to the next era of leaders to understand the issues they face and the problems they have. Leaders of yesterday need to recognize the skills and abilities of the next era and support them in their path to sustaining a higher standard of leadership.
Standing up at the front of a training room as an instructor, telling the next era what to do and how to do it through pre-determined curriculum provides some knowledge transfer but training alone is not going to solve the challenges of the next 20 plus years. Moreover, management consulting models outsource key strategic talent and they place the consultant in the seat of the expert. Not only does this model dis-empower teams, it creates dependency.
The leaders of yesterday who adopt professional coaching methods and adhere to international coaching standards will be better positioned to co-create relationships with new leaders so they can cultivate the next generation’s learning and growth. There is room for mentorship, but the current model of ‘command and control’ mentorship is no longer effective. Mentors that use a coach approach are better positioned to help with their teams design goals, actions and accountability measures that integrate and expand new learning and support staff in identifying potential results or learning from identified action steps.
Are you a leader who wants to use a coach approach to transforming their leadership ability, experience, and skills to help the next era of disaster and emergency managers? If so, we’d love to hear from you.
Hazardscape works with leaders from a range of generations and uses a coach approach to develop knowledge transfer systems, develop coaching programs, leadership programs, and technology solutions that will enable to next era of leaders and their teams to more effectively manage their own hazardscape.
Post-Incident Coaching: It’s not a one-off intervention
Unlike project management, post-incident coaching is strengths based, it’s not remedial, trying to fix what is wrong. Mutual accountability is developed, rather than it all being on the leader or one person.
Why post-incident coaching? Because it is based on the principles for developing resilient communities and organizations. The Emergency Management Strategy for Canada: Toward a Resilient 2030 states that:
Resilient capacity is built through a process of empowering citizens, responders, organizations, communities, governments, systems and society to share the responsibility to keep hazards from becoming disasters.
Members of resilient communities are empowered to use their existing skills, knowledge and resources to prevent/mitigate, prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters. They are able to adapt their everyday skills and use them in extraordinary circumstances.
The underlying purpose of non-directive inquiry based coaching is to help individuals and teams enhance their mindsets so they can see possibilities that they could not recognize under the status quo. It’s a strengths based methodology for them to assess, reflect on, and use their existing skills, knowledge, and resources to solve problems within their existing budgets.
Post-incident coaching is strengths based
It’s not remedial, trying to fix what is wrong, it’s about seeing the abundance of skills, resources, and human potential on a team.
THE FINAL PUBLIC POST-INCIDENT REPORT IS NOT WHERE IT STARTS
Post-incident coaching can start after the initial internal DRAFT post-incident report is complete. For many governments, post-incident reports are made public; therefore, they are scrutinized at different levels, communication teams are edit them, and then political staffers and ministers review them and give feedback. In most cases, the public post-incident report is so diluted and twisted, it is no longer recognizable to the people who are responsible for learning from the lessons identified and making change in their organization.
Through the intake step, we support all involved with understanding the constellation of relationships that exists, the community, or organization’s values, we help to develop common ground and language, we go to the key foci of the post-incident coaching with confidentiality and agreements for ways of working together.
During design, a diagnostic and assessment is completed through 1-1 coaching, identification of personal objectives, and a ‘what to expect’ session is booked to communicate the process. The personal objectives of team members are weighted heavily because if staff can't connect what you are doing with what is important to them, internal conflict begins, stress builds, and sustainable change will not occur.
Once the coaching, or ongoing conversations start there is iterative goal setting, development of action steps and accountability, and ongoing capacity development which includes transfer of skills and processes.
Evaluation involves an inventory of new skills, processes, and awareness combined with work to help the team sustain the changes, identify what might lead to slippage or get in the way from continued success. We measure success in many ways including who is at the table and how participants keep committed. Is the energy high or low, are people not showing up?
Post-incident coaching is strengths based, it’s not remedial, trying to fix what is wrong. Mutual accountability is developed, rather than it all being on the leader or one person. Moreover, one of several solutions are considered to support the team rather than external advisors telling teams what to do and how they need to do it. Post-incident coaching is a process of change that happens over time, it’s not a one-off intervention.
Hazardscape provides post-incident coaching for organizations with limited budgets. How can we provide this work at affordable rates? Unlike other firms in the disaster and emergency management space we don’t compete with them. We are not trying to secure big fancy offices with training space, we don’t have consultant teams with highly decorated mid-career and retired first responders, we are not looking to sponsor the next in-effective conference trade show where we need to show off our qualifications and capability.
We are focused on working remotely with leaders that want to make a positive impact through the use of coaching, extended reality technology, machine intelligence, and relationship intelligence.
Why post-incident coaching is positioned to be the new standard in shifting lessons observed to lessons learned.
Current emergency management consulting models have organizations believing that agencies and teams can leap from observation to learning by using strategies and expertise the consultant used in a previous career or contract.
Current emergency management consulting models have organizations believing that agencies and teams can leap from observation to learning by using strategies and expertise that the consultant used in a previous career or contract. But in today’s dynamic and shifting Hazardscape, this traditional way of solving problems is proving to be ineffective, expensive, and time consuming.
Whether you call it a post-incident report, assessment, or findings or a post-mortem (I am not sure why we use that phrase. The Latin phrase is post-death) or even an after-action review, after action assessment, or after-action report, they are all meant to do one thing. Document the observations and details about an exercise, emergency, or disaster so we can learn from our mistakes by developing controls to prevent and mitigate future ones. And if we are lucky, maybe become more adaptable.
Lessons observed are not projections (projects). They are simply observations about how a system, process, technology, operating procedure, or team performed during a certain situation. You can use an observation to make a projection, but if the organization or team does not understand the observation, if they do not see the value in the change, if they do not all see it the same way, or if they do not understand how they were impacted by what occurred, better results are a fantasy.
Project management and emergency management tools and techniques rarely support the shift from lessons observed to lessons learned. Project management fails us for many reasons.
The Project Management Institute defines project management as ‘the use of specific knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to deliver something of value to people’. Projects are projections, an estimate, or a forecast of a future we want. In many documented cases, emergency managers have failed at using project management to build a better future.
This is mostly because the team and organization rarely ‘buy’ into the observation which means it has no value; therefore, they can not learn from it or make it part of their desired future.
Adults, teams, and organizations learn better and perform better under certain conditions, including when:
They use their own experiences as a basis for action and learning
They find their own solutions rather than being told what to do
They anchor their learning in what really matters to them and the organization
We start with intake: building relationships, digging into your community's (or organization) values and principles, developing common ground and common language. Then we get started on design. Post-incident coaching is a methodology for helping teams to identify, prioritize, and understand what they observed. It is an inquiry-based process that helps individuals, as a collective, see problems in the same light so they can move towards making sense of what needs to change. It helps them comprehend the WHY (understand the value) before the what and the how are determined.
POST INCIDENT COACHING
A methodology for shifting observations into sustained changes that support adaptation, mitigation, prevention, and preparedness.
Post-incident coaching is a multi-month conversation with purpose. Groups and teams can use the process to expedite lessons identified into action because the lessons are important to the people involved. It is less expensive, more agile, and less time consuming, than traditional ways of implementing lessons identified because more time is spent on anchoring learning in what really matters to them, and the organization, as opposed to being told which recommendations are priority.
Hazardscape provides post-incident coaching for organizations with limited budgets. How can we provide this work at affordable rates? Unlike other firms in the disaster and emergency management space we don’t compete with them. We are not trying to secure big fancy offices with training space, we don’t have consultant teams with highly decorated mid-career and retired first responders, we are not looking to sponsor the next in-effective conference trade show where we need to show off our qualifications and capability. We are focused on working remotely with leaders that want to make a positive impact through the use of coaching, extended reality technology, machine intelligence, and relationship intelligence.
The New Standard for Disaster and Emergency Management
Today’s disaster and emergency management leaders need the ability to let go of being the most qualified and highly trained expert. This is partially because their knowledge and skills are quickly becoming outdated by the rapid generation of new research, lessons identified, and entrance of more complex disasters.
30+ years of emergency management (EM) consulting has created organizations that routinely outsource vital strategic capability, where an organization’s people are not only missing out on valuable growth opportunities, they feel less ownership. Moreover, a huge field of response and planning experts, exercise designers, operationally focused leaders, and trainers exist. But communities and organizations are not better prepared.
EM consulting firms compete over many factors which is positioning them to be less relevant and more expensive. As we head into the future of disaster and EM these factors need to be eliminated or reduced. They include:
High reliance on being the expert, low reliance on empowering their clients.
Large and expensive centralized urban based offices with meeting and training rooms.
Consultant teams made up of highly decorated first responders and veterans with very low team diversity ratios.
Sponsoring and supporting ineffective disaster and emergency management conferences and trade shows.
The collective number of years of experience and training that the firm has which serves as a key selling feature.
Offices, training rooms, hundreds of years of collective experience, ‘real experience’ (whatever that means) and tossing around the word ‘expert’ does not impress the new era of emergency managers.
What got us here will not take us to where we need to be in terms of assessing our hazardscape’s and managing them.
Today’s disaster and EM leaders need the ability to let go of being the most qualified and highly trained expert. This is partially because their knowledge and skills are quickly becoming outdated by the rapid generation of new research, lessons identified/learned, and high frequency complex disasters. The next era of leaders want to provide their teams with latitude to engage with complex issues using new methods and thinking that has not been part of the experience of an expert EM consultant.
Hazardscape is supporting the next era of EM leaders by trading in our credentials and technical EM experience and training for tools and methods that create healthy partnerships with our clients that focus on building capacity within organizations to tackle issues, expediate change, turn insight into action, and to promote broad and clearly thought out decision making.
Unlike other firms in the disaster and emergency management space we don’t compete with them. We are not trying to secure big fancy offices with training space, we don’t have consultant teams with highly decorated mid-career and retired first responders, we are not looking to sponsor the next in-effective conference trade show where we need to show off our qualifications and capability. We are focused on working remotely with leaders that want to make a positive impact through the use of coaching, extended reality technology, machine intelligence, and relationship intelligence.
Disaster and Emergency Management Relationship Intelligence
Teams composed of strong relationships are less likely to have communication breakdowns. Focused on conversations where work gets done, teams with relationship intelligence promote healthy opposition to quickly see all sides of an issue, so they can make timely decisions that drive results.
For the purpose of this blog team, group, network, and collaborative environment all refer to your team, the stakeholders that you interact with, community members, and others that are part of your emergency management plan or regional group. While a lot of people in these groups may not be your direct subordinates they are part of your team, network, or collaborative environment.
Chances are your emergency management agency or team is interconnected by teams—by people interacting in big and small ways every day. Every outcome relies on the ability to work well with others, but you can’t just snap talent together and expect them to function together as a team.
Your best results were probably created through relationships.
You are probably a disaster and emergency manager if you use these terms and phrases:
Whole of society approach
Breaking down silos
Collaboration
Better communication
Engagement
Innovation
Resilience
To perform at a high level and achieve results you need the best Relationship Intelligence you can get. Whether you call it:
situational awareness,
intelligence,
data, or
knowledge
Relationship Intelligence is a whole picture view of the motivations and strengths in your network or system.
During all four phases of the emergency management continuum disaster and emergency management practitioners must develop positive relationships with their community, with their stakeholders, with other business units in their organization. They need to realize how decisions are made during normal operations and during high-stress, high-consequence, and time-compressed situations.
Relationship Intelligence helps disaster and emergency managers to:
better understand past interactions, enabling a deeper understanding and appreciation of self and others,
manage choices and perceptions in the present moment, enabling more effective behavior and communication in relationships,
anticipate the thoughts, feelings, and actions of others, giving them greater control over the future outcomes of their relationships.
Relationship Intelligence provides visibility into the motives, conflict, and strengths of a team. Disaster and emergency managers who apply this insight will get the best of everyone’s strengths, and build a culture of resilient relationships that are responsive to challenges and opportunities.
Relationship Intelligence in the EOC or for IMTs
Develop strong emergency coordination/operation center teams by providing them with more than technical skills, help them assess their motivations and values.
Build high performing incident management teams by giving them insight into how they make decisions.
Enhance your collaborative environments with regional and community partners through data and a common understanding of who is on the team.
It does this by giving you the insight to adjust your approach to make interactions more effective. Relationships are connections built on a foundation of shared experiences and future expectations. It helps teams to identify past misperceptions, apply the right approach to the moment, and co-create a better way to work together in the future.
Relationship Intelligence also connects your strategy with your objectives. This is achieved through a conscious commitment to improving collaboration, building better teams, and coaching for performance.
Reduce Disaster Risk With Relationship Intelligence
When people discover how to harness what drives their personal performance, they not only take ownership for their choices, but they begin to appreciate differences in others and build trust. Together, teams learn to create quality interactions where problems get solved and work gets done.
Teams composed of strong relationships are less likely to have communication breakdowns. Focused on conversations where work gets done, teams with relationship intelligence promote healthy opposition to quickly see all sides of an issue, so they can make timely decisions that drive results. When disaster risk practitioners create an environment where everyone is empathic and willing to recognize all sides they can access more data, resources, and develop relationships that will create an effective system.
What if you had instant access into everyone's communication style?
The Core Strengths Platform that Hazardscape provides reinforces relationship intelligence across your entire network. And as more people take the assessment others can access their results, allowing the frame of reference for navigating personality differences to spread throughout organizations and networks. This focused effort on strengthening working relationships pays off quickly with better individual and group results.
Access the portal and:
Get or review personalized assessment debriefs.
Compare profiles with coworkers and teams for fresh insight on how to approach conversations, presentations, and performance reviews.
Access customized, real-time coaching on how to craft messages, prep for meetings, or enter high-stakes conversations.
Developing TRUSTED Networks for Emergency Managers.
Working, learning, and networking in Virtual Reality provides the same low-cost pricing as video conferencing but it adds a deeper level of trust due to unstructured social activity and the opportunity for ‘water cooler’ talk. With deep fakes, fake news, viruses, and our psychological data being used for marketing means Social Media platforms are quickly becoming places of distrust.
Want to join our group coaching sessions? Join the Virtual Hub and access all of our programs at one low cost.
Whether you are an emergency, business continuity, or a crisis manager your network must be productive, it must be built on trust, and it has to include a diverse web of stakeholders. Normally, we rely on information, agreements, and connection with individuals whose lived experience is similar to our own, but as we move through COVID and other disruptors our web must include new and different. But, our digital boundaries are becoming tighter and tighter.
With platforms like Parler, it quickly built a community of like minded individuals, how does one find trusted opposition to one’s own thinking or true news?
The above image was taken from the Institute For The Future. It outlines the four aspects for building trust in our current and future World.
Digital networks are in our pockets, in our eye glasses, in our homes, and in our cars. Moving into 2021, and beyond, means our work and connections will continue to rapidly span across the Planet. This is one reason why the Hazardscape Virtual Hub is powered by Virbela (I call Virbela the LinkedIn and Teachable of Virtual Reality platforms). Working, learning, and networking in Virtual Reality provides the same low-cost pricing as video conferencing but it adds a deeper level of trust due to unstructured social activity and the opportunity for ‘water cooler’ talk. With deep fakes, fake news, viruses, and our psychological data being used for marketing means Social Media platforms are quickly becoming places of distrust.
The institutions we used to trust (governments, universities, banks..etc) are losing ground quickly and not keeping up to global change. Tech companies like Facebook are becoming sources of news and lawyers are being left out of smart contracts facilitated by blockchain technology. Under the old system, it could takes years to develop a trusted and productive network that produces results. But as we move into the future we need to examine the elements that make up trusted systems in today’s world.
How do you build a trusted network today?
For individuals it starts with why and definition
Why do you want to develop a network?
What success do you want from your connections?
How will you measure it and know you are gaining traction that will help you meet your goals?
After you understand the why…..which can include a new job, sales leads, more money, or career support…….you have to define networking so you can develop the appropriate behaviours.
What does networking or developing a network mean and what can it look like? If you were to fill in the following what would you write? Networking means____________________. Networking does not mean ___________________. Here are a few examples to get you started:
Networking means looking for new and better ways of doing things that will improve performance. Networking does not mean working with current methods and accepting the old way of doing things as the best way.
Networking means taking a real interest in sharing information with stakeholders in areas of personal expertise. Networking does not mean only providing information when asked.
After you define what networking means and does not mean you can have a better chance of adjusting your behaviors to match its meaning.
Map
This one is quick. Take 15 - 20 minutes and whiteboard, list, mind map, or post-it-note your current network. You can list organizations and individuals but if you list an organization try to identify a contact and their positions. Do it quickly, focusing on your key relationships. Just write and keep writing.
The advantage to using a mind map is you can refer to it later and add organizations or individuals that you are currently not connected to but might be able to access through an existing contact.
Use different colors. Maybe blue for stakeholders you work with today and red for ones you want to connect with later in year.
When you are done let’s measure them.
Find
Now that you know why you want to develop a network, what networking means, and identified your existing network, it’s time to find new connections.
Where do the people you need to meet hang out?
Where do they work?
What strategies and tactics do you need to meet with them and learn more about that they do?
How can you support them to show that you are invested in the relationship?
What challenges will you help them with?
Measure
I call this step network scaling. Start by ranking your relationships 1 through 5 with 1 being poor. I know this may sound cold but you need objective criteria to help you determine which relationships to focus on. You only have so much time and energy so make it count by scaling your relationships so you can focus on the important ones.
1 - Poor relationship (i.e. there are current serious problems that require resolution)
2 - Adequate relationship (i.e., strictly business/transaction orientated)
3 - Good relationship (i.e., some past success but nothing recent and not much current contact)
4 - Very good relationship (i.e., some recent success but room for improvement)
5 - Extremely good relationship (i.e., many successes, some social contact)
Now that you have a good idea of what networking means, who is in your network, and how they fit it’s time to make a plan
Plan
Identify the barriers that get in the way of your relationships with your stakeholders and identify specific actions you can take to remove the barriers. Include setting a date for improving the relationship with each stakeholder. Decide if you want to cultivate the relations that fall into categories one, two, and three and keep doing what you are already doing with relationships that fall into categories four and five.
Don’t forget to monitor your progress against your goals and re-evaluate each of your stakeholder relationships.
These are some of the steps we will work on during our Virtual Hub Group Coaching sessions. In the sessions we will also focus on how to talk about the future with your network and how to position yourself as a trusted advisor.
Author: Brad Ison is the founder and CEO of Hazardscape and a disaster management coach. A disaster and emergency management company that specializes in virtual reality training and coaching within its virtual 3D Hub. He’s held position specific roles in the Alberta Provincial Operations Centre and had a decade long career at the Alberta Emergency Management Agency where his focus was on Disaster Recovery and Training, Accreditation, and Standards.
Working virtual is more than working from home
When will incident commanders and emergency managers use artificial intelligence, more than their GUT, to make response decisions? And no, I don’t mean a cyborg in the ICP dong the job of an Incident Commander.
Right now, this second, you can create a world without borders with zero geographical and legal borders. As you read this blog look past the thin curtain of pixels in front of you, what do you see?
If you have ever been involved in building a community league or association, the planning of a neighborhood, or even the building of a home you would have identified some sort of boundary. Who lives in the community or neighbourhood, where does the border begin and end on a map, who lives in the home, and where does the fence go. It was pretty easy, just draw a line.
But when our communities are within physical and digital landscapes and reach past national borders, culture, or ethnicity how do we manage them?
Cryptocurrency is being used to develop economies that governments and capital markets have no control over. Communities are forming outside the box of our ‘normal’ economy. Soon, neighbourhoods will be using crypto to develop their own self-sustaining markets for food and energy. How will this fit into resilience and preparedness outreach materials?
Smart contracts are being used to bypass expensive lawyers saving time and money between organizations. Will governments adopt blockchain contracts during response to speed up logistics?
How will emergency coordination centres take advantage of advisory bots during a crisis? Either for staff or for the public? What is the opportunity for an advisory bot to manage volunteers and donations? It is getting difficult to know if the driver next to you is driving the car, or monitoring the computer that is driving it, what difference does information from a bot make for the public during disaster?
How we work, live, and build trust is changing. For centuries governments, churches, and hospitals were our sources of truth and trust. We once relied on trained experts with recognized credentials to inform our decisions. This is no longer the case.
Chances are you now go to your smart phone and Google before calling an expert. Or maybe you have curated a list on Twitter that you refer to for most things. How ever you are setting up your system of trust, it likely depends more on data and algorithms than picking up the phone to call an expert or inquire with government.
So what does all of this have to do with working remote from home?
If you are a public safety related business owner, employee, or volunteer finding news online, buying products and services on the Internet, researching databases, or hiring through Social Media you have to start considering how you will remodel trust during the tensions that will arise with a changed world.
How will you verify the data you use to make decisions? Are you ready to use people and machines to validate what you need to know second by second?
How do you set digital boundaries? Will you measure more and everything? When your entire life is digital and searchable how will manage hyper-vulnerability?
What will privacy look like when you create anything but block it all as well?
Emergency management leaders need to tackle the issue of trust now. If we don’t have it in the physical and virtual world we won’t have it at all.
Changing beliefs to remodel trust for situational awareness
I know in the past it’s been talked about but not seriously….but it’s time to address the elephant in the room. When will incident commanders and emergency managers use artificial intelligence, more than their GUT, to make response decisions? And no, I don’t mean a cyborg in the ICP dong the job of an Incident Commander, I mean the use of sophisticated algorithms processing data from newly installed sensors, the Internet of Things, smart phones, and social media simolatansley which will provide situational awareness that was never before available. This is already happening on small scales but how are teams preparing to verify the data they get before they make a decision?
On a routine basis, Emergency Coordination Centre Directors and staff will one day rely on smart contracts to procure goods, they will use advisory bots to manage the influx of questions from the public, and they will need machine learning and artificial intelligence to help them make preparedness and response decisions.
Working virtually is more about how we will build new systems of trust and less about how we will set-up our desk in a tiny two bedroom apartment.
Start preparing for tomorrow
Author: Brad Ison is the founder and CEO of Hazardscape; a tech based disaster and emergency management company that specializes in virtual reality training and coaching within its virtual 3D Hub. Brad has held position specific roles in the Alberta Provincial Operations Centre and had a decade long career at the Alberta Emergency Management Agency where his focus was on Disaster Recovery and Training, Accreditation, and Standards.
Why letting go is critical for emergency managers
Whether we are in an Incident Command Post, Emergency Coordination Centre, or at a reception centre for days, weeks, or months emergency management is stressful. And even if you are not in the throws of response, coordinating multiple stakeholders for a plan or policy is equally stressful, especially if everyone’s vision of the future is different.
Two Buddhist monks return to their monastery after the rains. They reach a swollen river and in front of them is a beautiful woman in a delicate silk kimono, distressed because she is unable to cross the river by herself. The older monk scoops her up, carries her safely to the other side and the two monks continue on their way in silence. Later, as the monks reach their destination, the younger monk having fumed for the last 5 hours finally bursts out, "How could you do it? We're not allowed to touch a woman!” The older monk, surprised, replies, "I put her down 5 hours ago, but you are still carrying her with you."
Whether we are in an Incident Command Post, Emergency Coordination Centre, or at a reception centre for days, weeks, or months emergency management is stressful. And even if you are not in the throws of response, coordinating multiple stakeholders for a plan or policy is equally stressful, especially if everyone’s vision of the future is different. We are dealing with life and death, trying to get the public, our staff, and our volunteers to reduce their individual, family, and business risk.
Holding on and stirring over past mistakes and failures can drag us down but thinking about what we could do differently next time means we are growing.
What is letting go all about?
Letting go usually involves some form of forgiveness or acceptance - whether it's of yourself, someone else, a situation or even an unknown third party.
Letting go doesn't mean we condone a situation or behavior, it's about lightening OUR load. When we let go of whatever is bothering us we set ourselves free - and get to reclaim that energy for ourselves.
You don't need to know HOW to let go, you just need to be WILLING. And while you can't change the past, you can learn from it and change how you feel going forwards.
Remember - whatever you find hardest to let go of is probably what you need to let go of the most…
Free for Hub Members
Group Coaching for Hub Members
How can we let go?
It starts with awareness. Listing what you need to let go of will raise your level of awareness and you'll naturally begin to loosen your grip. So, simply list what you're holding onto, what slows you down, what riles you up and anything that gets in the way of you being the best you can be.
* If you're struggling with identifying a benefit (there must be something or you wouldn't be holding on to it) ask yourself, "What do I gain by keeping hold of this?" Perhaps by holding on to resentments, anger, hurt you don't need to accept your part in the situation, or perhaps it stops you from feeling how hurt you really were, maybe you get to stay in 'the right' or avoid dealing with someone.
TIP: If you need to let go of something YOU'VE done ask, "What do I need to do that will allow me to let this go?" Perhaps you need to make notes in your journal of what you've learned, perhaps you need to make some kind of amends, apologise or find a meaningful way to make it up to yourself or someone else. We can't change the past, but we can make amends and learn from it.
Get our Letting Go Worksheet
Author: Brad Ison is the founder and CEO of Hazardscape and a disaster management coach. A disaster and emergency management company that specializes in virtual reality training and coaching within its virtual 3D Hub. He’s held position specific roles in the Alberta Provincial Operations Centre and had a decade long career at the Alberta Emergency Management Agency where his focus was on Disaster Recovery and Training, Accreditation, and Standards.
Why Virtual 3D Emergency Management
We deliver our services through 36 offices, two training rooms, a meeting room, and eight common areas.
Unless you experience working remotely on a Virtual Reality 3D platform you likely won’t understand how it creates a sense of togetherness. And it may be hard to grasp how you can access new training markets and resources.
The Hazardscape Virtual Hub is powered by Virbela. Virbela brings people together to work, learn, meet, and train in an immersive virtual world – from anywhere. Currently, there are about 40,000 virtual workers that are part of this world.
Regardless of physical distancing restrictions and lockdowns Hazardscape will keep its global office as 100% remote.
And we are developing the plans and procedures for a real Virtual Emergency Coordination Centre. Meet in private areas, never run out of space, exchange documents, sent text messages, and share your desktop and webcam on one of our 96 web boards.
What are some of the things we are doing in the Virtual Hub?
Workshops with groups walking to pre-set breakout rooms
Posting unlimited sticky notes
ICS training
Weekly hub huddles
Running into others by accident, having chance encounters
We are working too but a lot of the time is spent having fun, chatting, and learning about each others capacity and capability so we can work on joint projects, build our networks and be more resilient.
We will still travel and attend conferences, drive to Calgary to meet with clients, and go for coffee…but for high-stakes and ad-hoc meetings, the majority of our coaching and training, networking, and other supports we will be in the Hazardscape Virtual Hub.
We deliver our services through 36 offices, two training rooms, a meeting room, and eight common areas. And scaling up will take three clicks of a button and cost less than a one-month commercial real estate lease for an office of 50 staff. This is why we can provide premium services lower than anyone who is paying for a monthly $7,000 - $25,000 brick-and-mortar lease with maintenance and janitorial services.
A virtual office is not the 100 percent solution but it is our 90% solution……because we still want to travel. I can say with confidence, people who were skeptical about online training 12 months ago can’t stay out of the Hazardscape Virtual Hub today….especially since we started training ICS in it.
The only way to fully understand the capability of working in a world class system is to try it out which is why we provide 60 days free. No Credit Card Required. No sneaky auto-renews. Fully functional membership.
Meet and train with Global Leaders
Meet with hiring managers
Access interview coaching
Be the first to hear about Incident Command System (ICS) Training
Attend Virtual Tabletops
Hold your own seminar or workshop
Access group coaching and mastermind groups, attend networking, and meet with mentors.
Experience this technology today risk-free to see how it can fit your needs.
Author: Brad Ison is the founder and CEO of Hazardscape. A disaster and emergency management company that specializes in virtual reality training and coaching within its virtual 3D Hub. He’s held position specific roles in the Alberta Provincial Operations Centre and had a decade long career at the Alberta Emergency Management Agency where his focus was on Disaster Recovery and Training, Accreditation, and Standards.
Part 2 - The Alberta Disaster Recovery Program
For the most part, it ran smoothly, mostly because the impact of disasters from 1995 to 2009 was not significant. The 2007 southern Alberta floods were bad, however, the program seemed to meet the needs of most Albertans.
PART 2
This blog is based on my own personal account of the stories and history in Alberta. When I was the Manager for the DRP I spent a lot of time reading meeting minutes from meetings that were held in the 1970s. If you have additional input or see a need to correct information please let me know and I’ll make updates. Brad
From 1989 to 2010 the DAG and the DRP served Alberta well. For the most part, it ran smoothly, mostly because the impact of disasters from 1995 to 2009 was not significant. The 2007 southern Alberta floods were bad, however, the program seemed to meet the needs of most Albertans. This was mainly due to agriculture disaster recovery being managed by the Alberta Financial Services Corporation (AFSC). AFSC was set up well to assess, decide on, and process claims. While the AFSC looked after ag operations Municipal Affairs looked after small businesses, nonprofits, and homeowners but this would change in 2010.
In very early 2010 the agriculture disaster recovery portfolio was transferred from AFSC to Municipal Affairs. It was a sudden change and one that did not transfer resources from AFSC to Municipal Affairs. I am not sure why this was the case but it was a decision that would haunt the government for many years.
Medicine Hat June 2010 Calgary Herald
Six months after the transfer in June 2010, southern Alberta was hit by some of the worst agriculture flooding in its history. There was essentially no agriculture expertise within the DRP which led to several processes and policies being developed on the fly.
In February 2011 I accepted a position at the Alberta Emergency Management Agency as Manager for the DRP. I really had no idea what I was in for. If I had known before accepting the position I might have declined it but I took the job and it was the official start to my emergency management career.
Before my first week on the job was over I had reviewed dozens of DRP cases that were in a stage of appeal. The 1989 DAG was not positioned to serve the needs of agriculture operations, small business owners, and the overall state of many home in southern Alberta.
For many homeowners the June 2010 flood was the one event that caused massive slumping on several hills and riverbanks to give way. It was argued by the government that the deterioration of the land was already occurring pre-flood so many claims were not paid. This did not sit well with landowners.
Another thing that was not helpful at the time was the government was not willing to publish the DAG. Imagine being told that you had to follow a government policy but you were not allowed to read it and when you disagreed with a decision you were told there was no avenue for appeal. This did not go over well with rural southern Alberta land owners and rightly so. This lack of transparency and openness caused many years of grief for survivors and for the government.
Since 1995 Landlink and the government had been documenting policy decisions which would form the first public release of the DAG in 2012 which was expedited by the 2011 Slave Lake Wildfires. This was because the 1989 DAG and the current Municipal Wildfire Assistance Program did not address urban interface fires. And with Slave Lake being the disaster it was the need for the government to have a public facing disaster financial assistance policy was critical for the recovery of Slave Lake and future disasters.
Author: Brad Ison is the founder and CEO of Hazardscape. A disaster and emergency management company that specializes in virtual reality training and coaching within its virtual 3D Hub. He’s held position specific roles in the Alberta Provincial Operations Centre and had a decade long career at the Alberta Emergency Management Agency where his focus was on Disaster Recovery and Training, Accreditation, and Standards.
Part 1 - The Alberta Disaster Recovery Program
The history of the Alberta Disaster Recovery Program.
Part 1
This blog is based on my own personal account of the stories and history in Alberta. When I was the Manager for the DRP I spent a lot of time reading meeting minutes that were held in the 1970s. If you have additional input or see a need to correct information please let me know and I’ll make updates. Brad
The Alberta Disaster Recovery Program (DRP) that exists today is the result of work that has been going on since at least the early 1970s.
In the 70s and early 80s the program was comprised mainly of a committee and grant administration resources. The committee was called the Disaster Recovery Committee (DRC). It was made up of Members of the Legislature of Alberta (MLA) and senior government officials. It would typically meet with councils and disaster survivors that were impacted by disasters to determine if disaster financial assistance should be granted for recovery efforts. DRC meetings occurred in the community usually in council chambers.
The 1987 tornado changed the program. Pre-tornado there was not a lot of documented policy for the program. Policy decisions were primarily made using decisions from past DRC meetings. The devastation of the tornado triggered the development of a formal policy, the Disaster Assistance Guidelines (DAG) in 1989. This policy would guide government in the distribution of disaster financial assistance grants. The DAG was used to guide Alberta's disaster recovery for the next 22 years, until they were updated in 2012.
The 1989 DAG was basic in every sense of the word. It is my belief that the DAG was developed this way because pre-DAG the DRC spent a lot of time in face-to-face dialogue with impacted communities. This face time allowed disaster survivors to tell stories and negotiate assistance.
While face-to-face dialogue is positive, making decisions without policy can lead to inequality because decisions are based more on influence than objective criteria. With the complexity, scope, and scale of the 87 tornado it became apparent that formal guidelines were required.
To further understand the current state of the DRP we have to look back to changes that were made in 1994 and 1995. In 1995 the Alberta Municipal Government Act came into force. It gave direction to municipalities to prepare assessments every year (previously it was every eight year). This change, along with the many cuts made by the government at the time, triggered a massive layoffs that impacted government tax assessment employees. These tax assessment staff were also responsible for providing damage assessment for the DRP.
In 1995 there was significant flooding in southern Alberta. Because the government had laid of its damage assessment team they had no resources to measure the impact of the flooding. So the solution was to contract a number of the assessors to conduct the assessment. This was the start of Landlink.
Landlink would go on to administer DRP damage assessment and administration for nearly 18 years. Their role was to perform damage assessment, process disaster financial assistance claims and make grant payments to disaster survivors while the government was responsible for the development of the grant and the policy.
Part 2
Author: Brad Ison is the founder and CEO of Hazardscape. A disaster and emergency management company that specializes in virtual reality training and coaching within its virtual 3D Hub. He’s held position specific roles in the Alberta Provincial Operations Centre and had a decade long career at the Alberta Emergency Management Agency where his focus was on Disaster Recovery and Training, Accreditation, and Standards.
Are employers making it easy for their staff to learn online?
Disaster and emergency and management learning and development in Canada is still highly reliant on passive, lecture-style, in-class instruction in major urban centers. Pre-COVID there was minimal movement to active online learning.
Even before COVID-19, there was already high growth and adoption in education technology. In Canada, the Canadian Digital Learning Research Association conducted a survey in 2018 that reported a potential 74 per cent increase in post secondary online course registration. They also found that 68 per cent of Canadian public post-secondary institutions see online learning as extremely (32%) or very (36%) important to their strategic and academic plan.
As reported by the World Economic Forum, global education technology investments reached US$18.66 billion in 2019 and the overall market for online education is projected to reach $350 Billion by 2025. Whether it is language apps, virtual tutoring, video conferencing tools, or online learning software, there has been a significant surge in usage since COVID-19. They also report:
COVID-19 has resulted in schools shut across the world. Globally, over 1.2 billion children are out of the classroom.
As a result, education has changed dramatically, with the distinctive rise of e-learning, whereby teaching is undertaken remotely and on digital platforms.
Research suggests that online learning has been shown to increase retention of information, and take less time, meaning the changes coronavirus have caused might be here to stay.
Millions of young, and mature, students across Canada have been flocking to online learning over the past decade. Today, they are expecting it, and they are expecting innovative educational technologies that will keep them growing, learning, and engaged while online.
How are employers creating a work environment for their staff that is online learning friendly?
What will CIOs and CTOs do to allow for more exploration of online learning options?
Will IT departments be resourced properly so they can spend time vetting possible solutions?
How are employers creating an environment that makes it easy for their staff to interact with stakeholders in an online/virtual world?
Hazardscape Management is setting an innovative direction in meeting the need for enhanced distance learning that values and ensures connection, community, and user ownership. Learn more by visiting our virtual 3D hub page today.
Author: Brad Ison is the founder and CEO of Hazardscape Management. A professional disaster and emergency management coaching company with a virtual 3D Hub. He’s held position specific roles in the Alberta Provincial Operations Centre and had a decade long career at the Alberta Emergency Management Agency where his focus was on Disaster Recovery and Training, Accreditation, and Standards.
Where will All Hazards Coaching show up?
So where does coaching show up in your life and career?
The number one concern (or question) I get about All Hazards Coaching is centered around how will the coaching show up in terms of a professional designation, certification, or accreditation?
“To those who have enough education and training coaching is your next step”
Some History
In disaster and emergency management experience was king. Then training entered the field followed by post-secondary education.
Over the last decade, or more, it’s been about having a mix of experience, training, and a post-secondary education. Today, having a certification in DEM is becoming very valuable. This is great progression! It shows the evolution of the DEM profession. Ultimately, it will be great to see the DEM professional ladder start with education, then move to training, followed by experience and credentials, we will get there, it takes time.
Where does coaching fit?
So where does coaching show up? The best answer I have so far is unless you become an accredited coach, you won’t get any fancy letters behind your name at the end of an All Hazards Coaching engagement.
But….what you will get is results and experience that will show-up on your resume and in your job performance assessments.
As you move through the All Hazards Coaching experience you will develop results that you either would never have realized without the coaching or you will take action faster than you would have without coaching.
To those who have enough education and training, coaching is your next step. All Hazards Coaching will help you use what you have to produce results and outcomes, faster. Coaching takes you from your current level of performance to the level you want to be at. It provides results and outcomes that you can highlight on your resume…..so I ask…….What is that worth?
For information on Hazardscape Management Inc. visit our about page.
Author: Brad Ison is a professional disaster and emergency management coach. He’s held various position specific roles in the Alberta Provincial Operations Centre and had decade long career at the Alberta Emergency Management Agency where his focus was on Disaster Recovery and his last role served was as the Director for Training, Accreditation, and Standards.