Trust Your System: Climbing through Uncomfortable Situations

I am fortunate enough to work alongside motivated, high performing teams, helping them optimize their recruiting, selection, and development programs. I often visit them in their training environments and last week, I was onsite with a team that trains survival specialists. The team was teaching lessons in rock climbing, rappelling, and mountain rescue.

Throughout the week, students learned how to set anchors, tie ropes, make harnesses, and use equipment such as carabiners, belay devices, ascension tools, and rescue sleds. When rigged correctly, this equipment creates a system that can be trusted while dangling high above the rocks.

With two feet on the ground, students easily demonstrated how to rig the system. However, by adding height, sharp rocks, and exhaustion, a simple demonstration becomes a daunting task. Naturally, there is a fear of falling. People become hesitant, cannot think clearly, and physical displays of stress are evident. The instructors consistently remind the students:

“Trust your system.”

Almost immediately, this phrase puts the students at ease in uncomfortable, hazardous situations. They spent countless hours learning how to work together in using numerous pieces of equipment to accomplish a task. The instructors remind the students that right now is not the time to abandon their training, preparation, and hard work.

“Trust your system.”

Remind your team of this next time you find yourselves in an uncomfortable situation. Like the rock climbing students, you have trained for this moment. You put plans, processes, and procedures in place to mitigate risk and increase the likelihood of success. Do not abandon what you know, because what you know works.

“Trust your system.”