Instinct & Common Sense

In February of this year, the GSD team (Getting Security Done) put out a survey to CSOs on what qualities they most valued when hiring YPs (Young Professionals). #2 was Instinct & Common Sense. I reached out to Tim McCreight, CSO at the City of Calgary, to help further define the importance of this.

As an aging YP myself, it wasn’t very long ago (2007) that I was making my committed push into the Security Industry via Executive Protection. I had been a security officer, done my time in the military and worked overseas as a contractor. But becoming a regular in the EP industry is tricky. Yes, you must be capable and proficient in the actual protection of people, but it takes more. You have to be compatible with the client, their staff, the security team, company management, etc…  

In a nutshell, you needed to build a reputation as a trusted advisor and teammate in a highly competitive industry.

Now since there are 2 Tim’s collaborating on this article, I want to ensure that you, the reader, don’t believe that I, Tim Wenzel, is the successful one giving advice here. I’m just telling a bit of my story and letting the other Tim, share his wisdom. So Successful Tim will be referred to as McCreight going forward and the other guy, Tim Wenzel, relegated to pronouns.

The Anatomy of Instincts & Common Sense

McCreight and I both agree that there are 2 types of instincts and common sense – basic and developed. Basic instincts are more innate, based on your values, life experience – whereas developed instincts can come to fruition in two different ways – battle hardened and intentional development. The development and control of our instincts, which cause our immediate reactions to stimuli, informs what we build as our repository of common sense. Common Sense is nothing more than the rationale behind our thought processes and actions. When our rationale is out of line with reality, we say that someone has “no sense” or conversely is “quite sensible.” So, if you want your actions to “make sense,” you need to develop your instincts in a healthy, strategic direction.

It’s important to recognize what your current tendencies are, how they came to be, and what you wish them to be. Example: coming into the security industry and looking to prove myself, my basic instincts were:

• Everyone knows more than I do
• I need to minimize my opportunity for failure, not knowing the answer, looking dumb, etc
• I need to receive good feedback, glowing reviews and be liked by all

These innate instincts were well meaning, but not realistic. Time after time, these expectations led to one disappointment after another. There’s a decision point that YP’s need to be aware of. These questions should be reflected upon often if you want to intentionally develop your instincts.

1. Should I allow my instincts to become developed reactively via battle hardening?
2. Should I dig into my instincts, understand where they are trying to get me and use them as a platform to develop my EQ or Emotional Intelligence?
3. Do I realize that instincts often develop as a result of fearful stimuli? What am I afraid of right now?

Battle hardening is great when it comes to developing hard skills, skills that must be refined and performed under stress. When it comes to soft skills, emotional skills, or the basic tenants of your professional outlook; it can leave you scarred and anxious, much like a victim of abuse.

McCreight would point out a few things about these expectations.

1. Everyone has their strengths, areas where they excel and become proficient quickly. In these areas, “many people” do not know more than you. Do not take advice from people you do not want to become. Find people who can help sharpen and move you along the path that you want your career to follow. When you find these people, ask real substantive questions and be prepared to put in the work to improve. McCreight believes it’s important to get good at what you’re doing and tailor your early opportunities toward building a great skill set, not necessarily improving areas where you are weaker.
2. Fail, fail fast, fix it, fail again! This is McCreight’s mantra. Embrace the fact that Scientific Method rests on cycles of Identify the Problem, Hypothesize, Experiment, Learn, Repeat… If you’re not making mistakes, you’re not engaged in learning. If you’re not learning, you’re no longer doing your job. As a manager and CSO, McCreight loves to help people learn from their mistakes. The goal is to not repeat the same mistakes over and over again.
3. Not all positive feedback is good, just like not all negative feedback is bad. Embrace Design Based Thinking, just like product engineers do. When you receive feedback dig into to it. Ask what made this good or bad? How can this be made better? What is your definition of success? How would you like to experience/feel/see/use this? Is this feedback relevant? Is this actionable feedback? Not all feedback is useful or relevant. You need to determine intent and what the feedback is trying to achieve. Then you’re designing for outcomes that you can articulate.  

Receiving feedback is great but learning and developing based on relevant feedback is paramount.

Your Choice. Intelligent or Fearful Instincts?

My fear was not being good enough. Not being able to make it. The fear of a monotonous, meaningless career for the rest of my life. My basic instincts tried to steer me down the right path, but those instincts were not developed with solid goals in mind. The result? My actions didn't always make sense to everyone. They were instincts of conflict avoidance. I didn’t learn until later that Impostor Syndrome is a real issue for me and many others. I learned that you can be certain of these things:

1. You’re never as good or as bad as you feel you are.
2. You must fail.
3. Some people will never approve of you.

The constant factor is you. You get to start, you get to quit, and start again – if you choose. So, the next time you’re feeling anxious or fearful at work, try this.

What is this instinct? 

Was it developed out of fear or reason? 

What are the acceptable outcomes to this situation?

1. List your insecurities
2. List what you can control AND what you can’t control
3. Develop a plan and find people to help you

Fail, fail fast, fix it, fail again. Enjoy your journey!

Here are some resources you may want to check out.

• Grit by Angela Duckworth
• Emotional Intelligence 2.0 by Travis Bradberry
• Authentic Communication by Fred Kofman