Electronic Walkabout no one should have to walk through life alone. We share the good times, the bad times and the best times. Everyone needs a little direction now and again. And TC and Maddog are here to show you the way. A podcast where we talk about the important things in life. Come journey with us. The Electronic Walkabout. Well, good day, Maddog. The days around Chilliwack are getting longer and longer and we are enjoying a little sunshine up here. How are things in your way in beautiful downtown Utah?

It's beautiful, honestly. It's get mentioned it's once or twice, it's very dry here compared to the, the BC climate. So that has taken a little bit of getting used to but it's also the benefit of like Alberta skies where everything is wide open. And yeah, so it's. I have no complaints with our recent.

And and I will tell the listeners and especially for the BC listeners, if you've not step foot out of BC to, to check out those big skies, take a, take a drive one day. It's something to see for sure.

You know what it's especially after living in BC, you know, you go through the six months of winter, quote unquote rain season and it's very gloomy and gray and it makes a psychological difference when the skies are wide open and it seems like you're basically looking up into the, the atmosphere. So yeah, it, it has an effect.

And I can imagine at, at nighttime when you can see countless stars. That's got to be something to see as well.

Yeah. The only thing I'm really trying to get adjusted to is I took my, my Harley out for the last couple days and I don't know, within 10 minutes my lips are dry and chaffed. So you have to permanently kind of keep on top of that. But I call those first world problems.

Yes. Let's call it a first world problem. Now, Maddog, today we were talking about something, something we've kind of already touched upon on a previous episode. But it's extremely important for everyone to consider. It focuses on our abilities and simply I hit the Internet on and googled what's the most important ability for someone to have any thoughts on that at all?

I would guess at the ability to communicate. That would be just a guess.

Well, you know what? You're not, you're not wrong and we're going to talk about that because this ties into it. If you add it together with what we're going to talk about mainly it's going to be very, very helpful. But it's the ability to adapt or learnability.

Okay, I agree with that. And it makes sense.

In essence, it is the ability to pivot when circumstances change and is considered a key factor for success.

I would agree. That translates directly to employment in certain lines of work, as you well know. Needs more ability to adapt to change than others.

Oh, absolutely. And we're going to, we're going to talk about that and perhaps some of the challenges that people may have with their ability to adapt to different environments. So join us as we talk about this ability and some of the natural challenges that may or may not come with it. But first, as always, a thought for the day developing beyond belief occurs when we learn to adapt in different environments. Travel should never be taken for granted.

Nope. Because as you travel and you're out of your element, you learn. That's how we evolve.

And I, I, and I would, I would have never known until I started traveling what a, what a world it does make. As far as the way you look at things after you, let's say you've been on that worldly travel circuit and, and saying, wow, this is something. And whether it's a different culture, just a different environment like you're, you're experiencing, I would suggest on a daily basis for you, for sure.

And it's interesting, though, how many people don't travel and get out of their environment because there's just a couple places around here that we've told people, oh, yeah, we went to Antelope island. And they're like, oh, yeah, I've lived here all my life. I've never been there. You know, you just get comfortable at certain places and times and you might be missing out.

Well, you know, and I'm, I'm one to advocate or I'll say check out your backyard before you go elsewhere in the world. I would suggest because Canada, as a country, there is so much to see, so many different climates, so many different environments, and literally you would be in awe with some of the things you can see. For sure.

My wife coined it as being a tourist in your own town.

I love that.

Yeah. I didn't put much thought into it until we, until we started doing it, and then I'm a believer now. So, yeah, get out there and explore what's close to you.

Okay, Maddog, I'm going to put you on the spot right now.

Okay.

How is your ability to adapt to different environments?

I say very good, just not. I am comfortable with being able to adapt, and I'm in the food business and it's ever evolving So I had to learn early on in my career how to adapt, because if you don't, you kind of get lost in the shuffle and maybe even left behind. So you have to be able to adjust and pivot with whether it's certain trends or technology or whatnot. So. But you have to have the, I think the willingness to, to be able to change because you got to learn, right? Like, if you're changing something that's unknown, it's a little bit scary. So that's why I think sometimes people stay in their comfort zones. But I think through my work, I've just had the ability to experience change through a great number of different companies. And yeah, I think it just adds to your kind of skill set as you go along.

Oh, yeah, for sure. And that whole fear thing, we're going to talk a little bit more about it because if, if you're really afraid of that change, then that might be the only roadblock you need to address. And like I say, we're going to come up with a few ideas around that. But you might be surprised what I share with you, but maybe not for sure. But do you see this value, this ability, everybody, like, it's not just for one person. It literally is for everybody.

And it can be on different scales. Like, it doesn't have to be, you know, earth shattering or monumental, but, you know, just being able to adjust even slightly is. It helps the greater picture. But yeah, I think some people are comfortable with, some people aren't. And you know, change isn't for everybody. And you know, you can't force somebody to. But that, I think that's their choice. And it might be somewhat limiting, but if that's the choice they make, then it is what it is.

I love, I love the way you say that and certainly respect people when they're in that situation. I'll just say in their comfort zone. Question, because I used the word. You just used the word a moment ago. But what the heck does pivot mean? And it seems like it's a new buzzword these days anyhow. We, we have to have the ability to pivot here, pivot there. But what does it mean? And can every. Does, does everybody know how to pivot? I don't, I don't know.

I think pivot is just really a change of direction. If you want to summarize it into, you know, kind of digestible terms. Because it, you get to a certain point and you have to make a decision, hence the, the pivot to either go right or left or whatever the the, the decision is. And then by your choice, you are pivoting. So I think just to sum it up, it's more like a change of direction.

Do you think that's based on a best guess or experience or a combination of two?

I think it's both. You know, you can do your research and then there's the gut feel, and then there's the logic, and then there's emotion. But, you know, you have to be able to do that. Sometimes people end up unemployed and that's their time to, quote, unquote, pivot or change direction because maybe their field of work has dried up or skill sets have surpassed them or whatever the case is. But at that time, if you make a decision to either go to school to learn a new trade or whatever it is, that in itself is a pivot.

Yeah, that makes sense. That makes sense. And, and I guess the whole point of what we're talking about is that you have to really kind of embrace how to pivot, know when to pivot. And if you don't know when to pivot, you might be losing out on opportunities, for sure.

And I've seen people in, in, in my career where companies grow to a certain size and people, maybe they were the original hires with the company, and the company kind of outgrows them. So if they don't learning or, you know, are adaptable to change, they, they do get left behind, unfortunately.

Yes. And, and like you've already mentioned, if someone's, I'll just say, adverse to that change verse to learning how to pivot, they will be left behind. There's no question about it. But it doesn't have to be that way, for sure.

No. And I would imagine in, in your line of, previous line of work that pivoting on the daily is a thing, because you've got no, I'm sure two cases were the same. No scenarios were the same. So every time you approach something, you had to pivot and make adjustments to deal with it.

Yeah, absolutely. And in my case, and I never did work at a slow spot, I don't know if I would. Even if I was at a place where the volume of calls was a little bit lower, whether I'd be sitting there with my feet up on the desk waiting for the phone ring, I'd always find something to do.

I don't strike me as that type of person that's going to sit back and do nothing.

That sounds like it happens at Mayberry, doesn't it?

Maybe, maybe.

But I would literally come in the morning and I've got like 50 things on my mind I gotta get done. And next, you know, the phone rings and not so much anymore.

Yeah, yeah. Things take priority for sure.

For sure. So you've already touched upon when I asked you that question, what do you think the most important thing is? And that's actually the next thing we're going to talk about. But if you think about all these other things we're going to talk about and put them alongside this ability to adapt and you look at the bigger picture here and they're all things that people can practice and get better at. There's no question about it. But. And we've talked about communication skills on this podcast more than once. But if you, if you're able to articulate very well either a one on one in front of a group, what does that do for you?

I think it empowers you, to be honest, is that you are at least taking the, the bull by the horns and addressing the situation. If you're either comfortable or not comfortable with the change or you don't know how to, or there's certain steps along the way that you're not clear of. I think the ability to communicate that makes the process of change that much easier.

And I'm not going to lie to listeners. I mean, it's going to be painfully hard when you first try to communicate, especially when we're talking about one on one. That's something that might be a little bit more complicated, that you actually have to literally put your neck on the chopping block. This is a, this is what we need to do and explain it to a T so that everybody understands and the ability to field any questions afterwards. Self awareness. Think about this for a sec.

That one's, I think, not as easy as it sounds to be.

It's not as easy as it sounds because all of a sudden you're going to get to know or you need to get to know this person who is you. And sometimes we're afraid to do that.

Yep. If it's an uncomfortable situation in a comfortable environment or you are not comfortable with the change. Yeah, it's you're you, you're kind of pigeonholing yourself into status quo. So the more you get to know you and possibly work on the things that can assist you to get to a better place or an advancement or whatever it is, is only your benefit.

Yes, absolutely. And in the psychology world we call that introspection. But it really, just to keep it really, really simple, every once in a while you're going to do this self inventory about, okay, well what was I feeling? What was I thinking while I was doing this or doing that? And simply ask that question. Is that how you want to respond? Or do you want to get better one way or another? And never, never think you have to do these things by yourself. And that's, and we've talked about the importance of mentors of people you can go to, to kind of help you along the way. And even with self awareness, it's something.

That's worthwhile doing for sure in your line of work. Just a question. Were there times when maybe there was a rookie or a new recruit that started on and they just couldn't find, figure out the work or get their head around it? Like I know all the training is pretty intense and you know, you get set up with a lot of situations but once you get under the real world. Was there a percentage of candidates that struggled with the reality of the job at hand?

There's a couple, not, not that many. Most people had a good idea before they walked through the door. But for those ones and it's, it's too bad because you have the ability to walk through the door, that means you've gone through a lot of school, a lot of training, what have you. And then all of a sudden you realize maybe I don't have the ability to, let's say pivot the, to adapt in this type of environment. And perhaps it's not good for me if, if truly that's the case. As soon as you realize that there's no harm, there's no foul for sure,.

No, it's everybody's best interest that that gets identified early.

But like I did, I only saw maybe a few people in my service that would have fallen into that category and generally those people are not happy doing what they're doing anyhow.

That's fair. That makes complete sense.

Here's one. And this, this is no different than self awareness. It might even be more challenging your ability to manage emotion.

Yes, and gentlemen do that so well.

Oh my God, how many times are we going to talk about this? Bang, that one. I guess I don't think we're ever going to stop doing that because it's so important.

Exactly. Yeah. Emotion is a part of everything and sometimes that's what prevent or limit the ability to change because you're too scared or unsure or you know, there's a myriad of other emotions that you would go through but let's call it emotional management needs to be a part of change.

Well, when you think, when you think about the self awareness, that's when you should be paying attention to your emotions as well. And, and then once you realize I've got this vibe if, and people tick differently. Some are highly emotional, there's no question about it. Some are in between and some are at the other extreme where it's almost like a robot. But at the end of the day, underneath underlying, there are always emotions that you somehow have to figure out, manage. There's no question about that. Yep.

Whether you suppress them and choose not to recognize them, they're still there.

I mean these are, these are simple things that really, you can have conversations with yourself and say, okay, what do I want to do? And come up with some, some, some things that'll help you manage your emotions, help you to become more self aware. Your communication skills that you just, just, just have to do it. And then there's this ability to engage in critical thinking, thinking.

There's a lot of pieces to this change thing.

How about, how about we'll stop right there and we'll talk more. But that whole ability for the critical thinking is really looking at it at a situation from an objective perspective so that at the end of the day, so you're not going down the path that you think is the best path when there's other factors that could be considered or simply you can't see the forest for the tree. So you have to really look at something critically and look at all the options. And if you just simply, oh, we're just going to bang on this door and get the job done, when clearly it's the wrong door. You have to be able to take your time and really think about it and put some thought in.

Yeah. And again that can be self limiting. Right. If you don't have that ability to, you know, critically examine situations or circumstances that would apply to yourself because you know, everybody has their side of the story. So it is hard for I think people sometimes to look from the outside in just sheerly from an observatory standpoint and not be overwhelmed with what their true feelings are. So that one I think is probably a little bit harder for people to learn than most.

It's, it's harder for people. But my experience is that that's something that critical thinking component has to be practiced in a group environment. And then it's much easier to do it, I'll say by yourself because then you're saying okay, we'll take two steps back and really if you look at it saying okay, well what are the options? What, what could I do here and if I do A, what's going to be the possible outcome? If I do B, what's the possible outcome? And then really, you're. You're making an educated strategy. I won't call it a guess because you've actually gone through jump, got it, jumped through the hoops, got all the information and gone from there.

So I wonder how detectives would analyze that, because I'd imagine that they are very, from the outside looking in, whether it's, you know, cases or anything like that. But could they apply that to themselves?

Oh, they have to. But, but I don't, I don't know how much it was done, I'll say at the introspection level, certainly at the group level. But I find, I find it very interesting when they, when we start talking about these things and, and it's just a matter of maybe putting yourself at a different angle to look at something. It'll hit the difference. And if you're looking used to looking at it one way all the time, then literally, I think you're shooting yourself in the foot for sure.

If you come at it from the, oh, no, I always know what's best and not look at it from somebody else's standpoint or from the other side. Yeah, you're limiting yourself.

Well, I would say, I suggest nine times out of ten, when you, when you hear about these wrong Polk convictions, that's a time where, where someone didn't, or a group of investigators didn't engage critical thinking and simply had some tunnel vision and went down the wrong path at someone else's peril, for sure.

And I guess that's where the, the nature of cold cases kind of come in, where they get brought back to life by somebody else looking at it from a different angle.

Oh, yeah, for sure. And that's, that's the other thing. And a lot of investigators would literally put their blood, sweat and tears into these investigations. And to have someone come in from the outside and basically say, have you thought about this? Have you thought about that? That's not easy to take at times, but it's probably the best thing that.

You could hear because it's almost like, well, you didn't check this or you didn't ch this. Have you thought about it coming from this angle?

So, yeah, forget about the critical thinking because it just feels critical at that point.

Right, exactly.

Yeah. So there's certainly the fear of the unknown that comes into it. And when we're talking about it and you've already brought up the word change because really, that's what we're dealing with, they're dealing with the ability to change. So you have that ability to adapt or learn ability. But what that engages is, is dealing with change on a constant basis. So you really getting comfortable with being uncomfortable. And that's really the key. For sure.

Yeah, I would agree. And because, you know, like, you could apply that to the dating world, if you're somebody out there and you know, you keep going on dates and nothing ever kind of clicks, you might have to take that one step out and look in and see, well, maybe there's something I'm not doing right or whatever. But you could think of application in so many different.

Well, and here's, here's the big thing just to put it all together because we were talking about change, but what if I told you, and I kind of alluded to this when we, when we started this episode, but what if I told you that we have an inherent or natural ability to deal with change and think about that for a second.

Yeah, I would agree, but we limit ourselves.

Okay, so that's good. You limit yourself. But what I want the listeners to really think about way back when, if you didn't have the ability to change, the result would be simply you would be dead.

You get eaten by a dinosaur.

The thing is, is to realize that the fear of the unknown really is nothing to fear because you already know if you just trust yourself, you'll be able to deal with that change and guess what? Survive.

It's amazing. And then that, that like that the fear of the unknown is that it could be good. It's not always, you know, it might not always be a terrible outcome. So you know that that fear again might be limiting where it might just be sunshines and rose petals if you did make that decision to that other path.

So, and, and I'm always wanted, even if you think, okay, well maybe that wasn't such a great idea, there's still going to be something good come out of it. I've always looked at it from that perspective.

Yeah, you're going to learn because you, you're going to start to take the chances to change and sometimes things will work and be like, oh, okay, I like how I did that. And then that just keeps adding to your skill set to be able to manage these things.

Speaking about change, that music is telling us that wheel. We have to switch gears here and change and, and say goodbye to our listeners, at least for this episode for sure. Any other thoughts on the ability to adapt and learn? Ability?

No, I definitely think that that is a skill that needs to be worked on, but in the same breath it can bring you great success and opportunities if you are willing to potentially try to make changes or advance yourself. But changes is good until it presents itself not. But in the meantime you shouldn't over worry about it. Roll the dice and take some chances.

Roll the dice, take some chances. Some good mad dog advice for sure. I think it's important to understand the importance of having the ability to pivot at the drop of a dime. Keep in mind we are all hardwired to tap into this ability. This will take some of the fear of the unknown out of the equation. And each and every time we do this it takes a it easier for.

Practice makes perfect.

Remember to take advantage of the moment before the moment takes advantage of you. To learn more about E-Walkabout, please visit us at Ewalkabout.ca.