Importance of Training and Experience
Most people can experience flow; however, you must begin with “a certain level of skill, training, and discipline.”38 Joel Kanasky attributed his ability to respond appropriately at the World Trade Center to his training: “Training and always being prepared gives you the ability to respond this way. It is that repetition.”
The data collected in my doctoral study validated previous studies of firefighters and their ability to use “slides,” or stories, to make decisions and to train others. Helen Graham, a wildland firefighter, told her stories using slides. For her, the slide concept itself represented a sense of control.
“I see parallels in what you are talking about and in the way we train, lead, and make decisions in wildland firefighting. It comes from how the military Special Forces train in situation awareness. We emphasize a process of building what we call slides, as in a slide show...