Be Like a PT Boat

Be a PT boat. Ok. So I’m talking mindset here.

Back in WWII, PT boats were used for their speed and maneuverability. They could adapt quickly to any situation as it unfolded. Which made them incredibly effective.

According to the U.S. Naval Institute, “PT boats were able to challenge much larger capital ships, defend merchant shipping, attack convoys, perform scouting and reconnaissance missions, and infiltrate or exfiltrate small units and key leaders from enemy-controlled areas.”  

Flexibility and adaptability are incredibly important traits for business owners when it comes to your personal safety, and the safety of your employees. And for law firms using an in-house case preparation investigation system.

Not coincidentally, those are the three areas that I provide consulting and training services in. But, more on that later.

Life would be much easier if in everything we did, we could follow the same processes each and every time. Like recipes in a cookbook. 

Where you’d always begin with step 1, and follow that by step 2, and then step 3. But life doesn’t work that way. And neither should you.

And that’s why being able to adapt and adjust like a PT boat matters.

Violence is Chaotic. Trying to Impose a Step-by-Step Linear Response Doesn’t Work

Learning a step-by-step process to respond to a violent attack doesn’t work. That’s because violence is chaotic and random. Violent attacks happen without warning. And violence never progresses through a predictable series of steps. 

There’s a lot of folks that preach the gospel of de-escalation when you’re faced with a person threatening your safety.  

Being able to talk someone out of violence is certainly a great skill to have. But, de-escalation doesn’t work in most situations. And that’s because attacks are typically launched without warning. When that happens, there’s no opportunity to even try to de-escalate.  

Your only hope at that point lies with changing the dynamics of that attack and taking away the attacker’s initial advantage, and with self-defense. So that you can avoid being physically harmed until you’re able to get out of there safely. 

This is true for business owners who are targeted by grievance driven attackers, and for employees when they’re targeted by any of the 4 source types of workplace violence.

Employers often build workplace violence prevention around preventing co-worker violence. And that’s certainly helpful to an extent. But, that approach doesn’t work for 75% of workplace violence incidents.

And that’s because employers, who have control over both parties in co-worker violence, have no control over members of the community who are engaged in criminal conduct, invitees who employers rely upon for their business operations, and personal connections of employees that don’t work at the business. They make up the other 75% of workplace violence incidents.

Therefore, to keep employees safe from all 4 source types of workplace violence, you need to focus more on flexibility, and adaptability to recognize, and address safety hazards from the other 3 source types of workplace violence.

People Aren’t Linear, So Researching Them Shouldn’t Be Either

A standardized step-by-step approach doesn’t work for research on party opponents and witnesses either. And that’s because each person, circumstance, and fact pattern are different.

Here’s what I mean. An attorney suing a builder over allegations of abusive conduct by the builder’s top salesman towards a female staff member reached out two weeks before the salesman’s deposition. 

The builder was confident in the salesman’s narrative of what happened (that there was no abusive conduct towards the female employee), and stood by the salesperson even after disclosing that the salesperson had a recent DWI. After all, boys will be boys. 

The builder’s lawyer had so much faith in the salesman’s ability to dispute the allegations that he told the plaintiffs lawyer that the case would never settle. Instead, the company was prepared to proceed to trial where based upon the strength of the salesman as a witness, the builder would prevail.  

In pleadings filed with the court, the builder denied that the salesman had any other criminal charges filed against him.

A search of the state court case website appeared to support that as it came up with only the DWI case. And being a misdemeanor, the DWI was of little to no use to the attorney during the proceedings. DWIs don’t go to a witnesses’ credibility or propensity for lying. 

In looking over documents the lawyer had obtained, It was determined that the salesman had lived in two other states. A search of the counties in those two states, and a couple of quick calls and written records requests, turned up two felony cases for the salesman in those other states. 

And one of those cases involved using violent physical force to take another person’s vehicle, and then he lead police on a high speed chase. Propensity for abusive conduct. Check. 

And within one of the two court filings, there was a document assessing the salesman as a compulsive liar. Issues concerning honesty and veracity. Check.

The lawyer questioned the salesman about the cases that should have been but were not disclosed, and used the copies of documents to impeach the salesman’s testimony during the deposition.

Once she introduced those documents and honed in on the compulsive lying, the owner of the building company began moving his chair away from the salesman. The court reporter took notice of the changing distance between owner and salesman, and told the plaintiff’s lawyer the case would settle tomorrow.  

The plaintiff lawyer, citing the builder’s lawyer’s statement about going to trial, replied no way to the case settling the next day. 

But, first thing the next morning, the attorney’s phone rang. Sure enough, it was the builder’s lawyer, with a substantial enough offer to get the case settled. Which it did.

So remember, being able to adapt and maneuver your way through changing situations, like a PT boat, instead of just trying to proceed along a linear path is an important mindset to adopt. 

Plaintiff lawyers can maximize client recoveries, and firm revenue by implementing an effective in-house case investigation system. 

Business owners are facing threats of violence from grievance driven people. Your time is valuable. You can learn everything you need to keep yourself safe in just one single day. Check out my one day 1:1 VIP and small group programs. 

California now requires employers to establish, implement, and maintain an effective workplace violence prevention program. You can protect your employees, and your bottom line, while complying with California’s requirements.