Overview of thinking skills for
security guards
The capacity to evaluate a more
comprehensive picture and draw conclusions is referred to as critical thinking.
These traits are necessary if you want to examine security threats at work and make
decisions based on logic rather than feelings. You can come up with timely
decisiveness by using critical thinking. For instance, you usually make better
decisions if you can swiftly assess behaviors and establish a potential
security threat. You can choose patrol routes and locations and implement the
best emergency response strategy using your critical thinking abilities.
Every day, security professionals
responding to changing risks make choices based on lack of knowledge,
incomplete information, and limited resources, as the case may be. It is,
therefore, not surprising that Security Officers need effective
decision-making, communication, and critical thinking as essentials for success
in their professions.
Critical thinking: What is it?
Analyzing matters on the ground to
thoroughly and cautiously address a topic the problem is the act of critical
thinking. Having an eagle eye for events around your workplace, posing
deliberate queries, and considering potential answers are all steps in the
critical thinking process. For instance, if a security officer would have to
settle a dispute between a staff member and a customer, utilizing critical
thinking to determine the nature of the conflict and take the appropriate
course of action.
Why are thinking skills essential for
a security officer?
A security officer must have a sense
of sound judgment and top-notch problem-solving skills, hence the need for
critical thinking abilities to operate professionally and prevent matters from
escalating. Imbibing thinking skills can immensely help the security officer
with every problem that has to do with the organization's security. Employers
of labor value and seek out officers that have high critical thinking abilities
because of this.
Essential Critical thinking skills
for security professionals
These are five critical thinking
abilities that you can develop to assess challenging security issues, prepare
for the unexpected, and avert costly errors.
·
Question your underlying assumptions
Use a systematic attempt to enumerate
and question the core assumptions or mental model that guide how you interpret
the data or your reasoning. Highlight your working assumptions and then
evaluate each one to see if it is:
1 - Sound (meaning that's how
resources will be committed).
2 - Needs qualifications (meaning it
might be true in most cases but not all).
3 - Lacks evidence (talking about
your significant uncertainties).
As you get more knowledge or the
situation changes, you modify the list and decide if your main uncertainties
should be turned into collection demands or research subjects.
·
Look for inconsistent data
The core of the scientific method
(critical thinking) is to look for conflicting evidence and understand that you
do not need to be a scientist conducting a controlled study to use it. Suppose
you think the problem you have at hand looks puzzling. In that case, you can
compare each side of the story to determine which information is disconfirming
and how substantial it is in challenging conventional wisdom. Your brain will
innately try to fit different pieces of data into a narrative or lead to assumptions
as it concerns your workplace security. Critical thinking can save you a lot of
time when sorting through complex possible options and numerous pieces of data.
Suppose you have some information at odds with one of the hypotheses, such as a
strong alibi. In that case, you can quickly rule that possibility out and turn
your focus to additional information.
·
Observation skill
Critical thinking begins with the
ability to observe. A new issue can be promptly sensed and recognized by a
security officer. Those adept at observing can also discern the potential
causes of problems. Based on their prior experiences, they might even be able
to anticipate when a problem might arise before it does. You can improve your
observational skills by slowing down how quickly you receive information and
paying more attention to your environment. To carefully consider what you're
hearing or seeing, you may use mindfulness skills, journaling, or active
listening inside and outside the workplace. Then, consider whether you see any
patterns in behavior, transactions, or data that you and your team could find helpful
to address and prevent security threats.
·
Analysis
Analytical abilities become crucial
once an issue has been discovered. Knowing which facts, data, or information
are essential in analyzing and evaluating a situation is a prerequisite that
every security guard must have. Analyzing frequently entails compiling unbiased
research, checking the accuracy of the information with pertinent inquiries,
and impartially evaluating the accounts of the parties involved. By accepting
new challenges, you can develop your analytical abilities. To challenge
yourself to think creatively and critically, you may, for instance, read a book
about a subject you don't understand or enroll in an online math course. By
doing this, you can develop the ability to understand new information and come
to informed conclusions.
·
Inference
Drawing speculation from the
information you gather entails the skill of inference, which may call for
technical or security-specific training or expertise. Making an inference
denotes establishing conclusions based on scant knowledge. For instance, with
the information, a security officer may have to wrap his head around the real
cause of the issue between the staff and the customer. Focus on making
reasonable assumptions rather than jumping to conclusions to develop your
inference skills. This calls for taking time to search for and consider as many
hints as possible thoroughly. Things such as complaints or reports could aid in
evaluating a situation.
·
Take into account alternate theories
Our brains are incredible machines
that can "make sense" of situations based on limited information. Failing
to take into account missing information and possible alternatives can send us
down the wrong path, from which our inherent biases will prevent us from
turning back. As a result of our deeply ingrained attitudes, we only see one
possible outcome. Alternative explanations are simple to come up with by:
-Stating your primary hypothesis (or
informed guess) and coming up with alternatives that cover the entire spectrum
of possibilities, from the most improbable to the most likely,
-Using a framing framework similar to
the journalist's "Who," "What," "How,"
"When," "Where," and "Why," break down your central
hypothesis into its constituent parts, examine each critical aspect, and
suggest potential combinations for consideration.
-Demonstrating the reverse of your
lead hypothesis as a null hypothesis: something Must be or is not (i.e., guilty
or not guilty). The NOT hypothesis is a catch-all for data that initially
appear abnormal but eventually become more diagnostic.
·
Pay attention to detail
Security professionals are taught to
pay attention to many elements of their work. In unusual locations where open
access is either regular or seldom, staff checking for public activities may
detect trash, smoking butts, and empty bottles. Security is looking for a
customer behaving unusually. Behaviors include being irrational, anxious,
sweating profusely, persistently observing staff or authority figures instead
of going about their job, or continually visiting the same spot. Additionally,
they are searching for modifications to the property, such as opened or
relocated gates, unsecured windows or doors, new cars, and unattended luggage
or deliveries.
·
Detecting prejudices
The most intelligent people struggle
with this skill since biases can go undetected. So, security officers must be
strong critical thinkers. They must make an effort to assess information
objectively. They consider themselves a judge who wants to evaluate the
arguments made by each side of an argument while also considering any biases
the party may have. Learning how to put aside personal biases that may skew
your judgment is as important—and arguably more challenging. Detecting
prejudice is crucial to understanding how to view things from many
perspectives.
·
Choosing relevance
Finding the most crucial information
for your attention when faced with a difficult situation is one of the hardest
critical components of thinking critically. In many cases, you'll be given
information that can appear significant. It might just be a small piece of
knowledge, but it might be substantial. Setting a clear direction for what you're
attempting to understand will help you improve your ability to judge relevance.
Are you expected to come up with a solution? Should you be looking for trends?
When you choose your ultimate objective, you can utilize that information to
help you decide what is essential. Finding pertinent material might be
challenging even when there is a precise aim. Making a concrete list of data
items and ranking them according to importance is one way to combat this. When
you break it down this way, you'll probably come up with a list with some vital
information at the top and some at the bottom that you can probably ignore.
From there, you can concentrate on the issues in the center of your list that
are less distinct for additional analysis.
·
Research
Independent research skills are
essential when comparing viewpoints on a subject. The facts and data used to
support an argument may be out of context or derived from dubious sources
because statements are supposed to persuade. The best defense against this is
verifiable proof; track down the information's source and assess it. Having a
keen eye for unverified statements can be helpful. Does the individual making
the argument provide their source for the data? If you ask or look for it
yourself and there isn't a straightforward response, that should be a warning
sign. It's crucial to understand that not all findings are reliable, so take
the time to research the differences.
·
Understand the context
Here's another critical thinking
skill a security officer should possess, possibly the most important. It
involves learning to pause and consider the overall situation. Putting yourself
in the position of your customers, coworkers, and clients will help you learn
how to "think beyond your pay" sooner. What do they require of me,
you should consider. "How can I frame the problem to help?" Moreover,
"Do I need to frame their inquiries in a wider context?" Simple
framing approaches can help you, and your colleagues get and stay in sync, make
coordinating as simple as possible, and prevent the need to reframe initiatives
after they are well underway.
·
Determine major drivers
Understanding the factors at work in
a security scenario can help you foresee the future and lessen the likelihood
that you will be entirely caught off guard. The range of potential outcomes can
be captured by altering the weights of these significant drivers to produce
plausible alternative scenarios. Observable and collectible, genuine,
dependable, steady, and unique indicators can monitor which plan is taking
shape. Uniqueness should be a goal, despite being challenging to achieve.
·
Benefits of critical thinking in security
You can cope with the complete
spectrum of security issues with these critical thinking skills, from insider
and cyber threats to safeguarding sensitive installations. If you structure
projects, avoid analytical pitfalls, encourage creative solutions, and present
persuasive justifications for countermeasure enhancements, you may work more
effectively, make better decisions, and be more prepared for the worst.
Conclusively, you can understand and
respond to events using all the facts and information available if you can
think critically as a security professional. Critical thinking at work
typically entails digesting and arranging facts, statistics, and other information
to define an issue and create workable answers.
Think about the above-mentioned
critical thinking abilities, and start working on them.