How Tripwires Automate Decisions and Prevent Disaster

Around the perimeter of your home, an infrared laser beam serves as an invisible tripwire. In the early morning hours, when everyone is asleep, someone breaks that line. A bank of floodlights illuminates, a siren sounds, and you’re woken up out of a deep sleep by your defense system alerting you to a potential intruder, who flees. The tripwire has done its job.?

A “tripwire” can be a mechanism that kicks in to prevent an unfavorable outcome. Examples of tripwires are all around us. They include automatic stops on roller coasters, elevators, machinery, and farm equipment. Trains have “dead man switches” that require the operator to physically press a button every 30 seconds. It they don’t, the train automatically stops and sends help. Fast hypercars automatically extend spoilers to add downforce above a certain speed to prevent the car from literally taking off like an airplane. You can program your email server to automatically spell-check your message before it is sent, or if you’ve referred to an attachment, will check to see if you’ve actually included the file you meant to There are table saws that have the ability to detect a human finger near the blade and will stop it before an accidental amputation occurs. The idea is that the tripwire activates in response to a stimulus.?

Tripwire-activated actions can be built out with decision trees in advance, and the rise of AI has made automation of tripwires more robust in applications we could not foresee only a few years ago. This can speed up decision making and take advantage of time that would have otherwise been lost to planning and thinking through the situation.?

There’s a very important reason why weapons are forbidden in jails and prisons. They’re used to hurt people: correctional officers, inmates, and staff. That’s why, when law enforcement officers enter a detainment facility, they pass through a series of locked doors in which they secure their firearms, pepper spray, tasers, knives, or anything else that could be used to hurt someone.?

The same was true for me when I visited our local jail. In the sally port of the jail was a row of lock boxes in which to place these things. You could not enter the secure area of the jail without doing so. One particular night, very early in my career,?I left the jail without retrieving my service pistol from the lock box and drove back to the police department. It wasn’t until I sat down in front of a computer in the basement of the city building that I realized I didn’t have my gun. Had I been called to an emergency situation, I would have been without a way to defend myself or someone else. My stomach dropped. In a cold sweat, I quickly drove back to the jail and retrieved my equipment from the locker.?

After I forgot my gun at the jail, I needed a tripwire to stop that from ever happening again. My solution? I made sure to put my car keys in the lock box with my pistol. That way, I could not possibly leave the jail without it. This remained my habit for the remainder of my career.?

While automated tripwires are ideal, we might train ourselves to recognize the tripwire itself. This week, while at a leadership retreat with my team, one of my leaders described a situation where she sent out an email to her team describing a process. The message was straight-forward, but detailed. She received back this response: “This doesn’t make any sense.” There are two ways (at least!) to interpret this message from the subordinate:?

a. “I don’t understand the information you’ve provided”

b. “This plan is crap and I don’t like it.”?

Wisely, the team leader resisted the urge to engage in back and forth email responses with the team member and connected with them on a video call instead. She knew that the employee’s response, whether innocently confused or frustratingly challenging, meant that her direct intervention was necessary. In the end, the employee understood the information more clearly and had seen that their manager was willing to take extra time to ensure their concerns were addressed. Win + Win.?

How can tripwires help you?

No matter what profession or role you’re in, you’re likely to be engaging in processes and tasks that have vulnerable points. In the case of the home security system, the weak point is that no one is watching the perimeter in the middle of the night. For each, I suggest engaging in this process to identify where you could be stronger. Here are a few things you can do to make tripwires work for you:

1. Identify the weak points

Where will things break? Where is the risk? How are things most likely to fail? Make a list of them for each area, duty, or task.?

2. Ask the question: What needs to be true for this weakness to NEVER fail??

This will prompt another series of solutions. These are potential tripwires. Examine each of them in detail and list out the strengths and weaknesses of each. Choose the strongest and discard any tripwire that doesn’t fully prevent disaster.?

3. Test the tripwire

Just as you might with your home security system, you need to be sure that your chosen tripwire will be reliable. Does it work the way you intend it to, when you want it to? Don’t just rely on your good judgement. Be sure that your solution is consistent and robust. Part of testing might be to get feedback about your tripwire or test it with a peer.?

4. Implement

Simple, effective tripwires can be put into place without much effort, once you’ve identified them. If the solution is complex or will require more effort to implement, you may need assistance or to adjust what you’re trying to do.?

5. Test again!

On a semi-regular basis, you should check to ensure the tripwire works and is still aligned with what you’re hoping to prevent. Essentially, you’re checking the batteries in your smoke detector.?

I encourage you to take a wide view of the various things in which you find yourself engaged and ask that first question, even as an exercise: “Where do things fail, and how might I prevent that every time?” With some thought and creativity, you might be surprised what you’re able to do.?

Do you have tripwires in your professional life or personal life that you use? I’d be interested to hear more.?

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