Too often soccer is reduced to simple technological fixes for complex human problems. This presentation looks at the human factors in the game through the lens of wildland fire fighting. A field that’s deadly serious, rigorously studied, debated with much to offer the game. Yet soccer is much more complex then wildland fire fighting. It’s an adversarial activity and must move a step beyond the lessons here.

1. 1
Human Factors in Soccer,
Communication in an Adversarial Setting
This presentation will look at communication in soccer through the
lens of the Human Factors in the Wildland Fire Service video;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAnuwSEJ4kk. This video follows the presentation.
This approach will allow us to maintain the real world nature of
the subject along with it’s scientific rigor. At the same time a case
will be made for the increased complexity of soccer and how
human factors influence adversarial decision making.

2. 2
“Cast your net wide.”
Paul van Riper
“What has made SunTzu’s writings timeless was his focus. His theories were not
concerned with the latest technological advancements, but rather, they concentrated
on the human aspect of waging war. The art of directing and coordinating an army. He
wrote about making tactical decisions, keeping up moral and assuring good
communications.” – Human Factors in the Wildland Fire Service.
There’s much to learn from this video. However I’ll point out a significant difference
between fighting wildland fires and soccer. While fire fighting is much more dangerous
than soccer, it is a matter of life and death, soccer is a more complex activity. Wildland
fires lack intent, consciousness, free will. They cannot plan. These are human factors.
This difference separates soccer/adversarial decision making from wildland fire/physics
decision making. Understanding this is the first step towards employing Sun Tzu’s
theories proactively with the aim of getting inside an opponents head.
Each slide represents a portion of the video. Information concerning the differences in
decision making between wildland fires and soccer are added accordingly.

3. 3
After Action Reports, Debriefing
7:53 – 10:19
AAR’s compare actual events against performance objectives.
Each member is expected to honestly contribute to the groups discussion.
Both positive and negative observations are made.
Suggestions how to improve future actions are made.
Formal AAR’s take place as a part of training at the end of a training action,
when all the key members are present and memories are fresh.
Informal AAR’s can take place during a training action, between a few members
and can emerge on their own i.e. two center backs compare notes on the last
counter attack.
AAR’s are not an invitation for the coach to begin a lecture, an endless critique
or nitpick. For the players, Karl Weick’s “How can I know what I think, until I
see what I say” is a useful guide. Get them to “talk” so they can “see” what they
think.
With novice players, those lacking experience and trust, focus on what, when,
where, who and how questions. This concrete, factual level of perception is a
safe haven for dialog. Why questions invite opinions, subjectivity and ambiguity.
"Ambiguity allows people to maintain the perception that there is agreement,
when in fact, there is not" Karl Weick - Sensemaking in Organizations.

4. 4
Everyone’s Professional Duty
10:20 – 12:12
“A professionals duty isn’t about simply showing up and being there. It’s about
minimizing unnecessary risks, executing plans, and adapting to changes as they
occur.” In soccer a level of risk is acceptable.
“A professional is always aware of their situation and learns to recognize the
factors that are most important.” Risk to return is part of the situational
awareness equation.
“A professional is part of a team, working with other people.” The rhetorics of
identity and progress.
“A professional takes on the responsibility to think, to learn from their
experiences and to do a better job each day.” For this to happen players need
to remember what happened and to honestly compare notes with teammates.
The wire brush of honest evaluations and discussion is invaluable.

5. 5
Three Basic Objectives of Human Factors Training
12:13 – 16:23
Awareness; recognize and understand some basic human performance issues.
Tools; the mental tool set for the common human problems that you’ll
encounter.
Practice; mastering any tool takes time and practice.

6. 6
Three Levels of Situational Awareness
16:24 – 20:46
Individual SA, it starts here. How well your perception matches the reality of your
environment. “Situational Awareness is the ability to identify, process, and
comprehend the critical elements of information about what is happening to the
team with regards to the mission. More simply, it’s knowing what is going on
around you.” United States Coast Guard - Team Coordination Training Student
Guide
Shared SA, “Shared SA implies shared requirements and purposes” Stanton et al -
Distributed situation awareness in dynamic systems. Everyone shares the same
outlook, perspective, approach, biases. Strength; unity, weakness; one blind spot
blinds the entire team.
Distributed SA, “distributed SA implies different, but potentially compatible,
requirements and purposes.” Stanton et al - Distributed situation awareness in
dynamic systems. Multiple outlooks, perspectives, approaches, biases. Strength;
resiliency and fewer blind spots, weakness; requires trust, team work and
fingerspitzengefühl. This is not emphasized in a technical based curriculum.

7. 7
Communication
21:02 – 26:54
"organizations as entities are developed and maintained only through
continuous communication activity. If the communication activity stops, the
organization disappears. If the communication activity becomes confused, the
organization begins to malfunction” Karl Weick - Sensemaking in Organizations.
Three communications Watch Out Situations:
Uninformed on strategy, tactics, and hazards.
Instructions and assignments not clear.
No communication link with crew members or supervisor.
Firefighting orders adapted to soccer:
Know what your opponent is doing at all times.
Base all actions on current and expected behavior of team mates and opponents.
Identify path for moving in case of problems or opportunities.
Use peripheral players as look outs. They have a better view then central
players.
Give clear instructions and information. Name names.

8. 8
Communication - Direct Statement, Point-to-Point
27:09 – 30:23
When you need to get an idea across clearly, in a short time frame and under
stress direct statements are the preferred method. There are six major
components to a direct statement:
When making a direct statement use the persons name. Establishes the end
point of the message. ‘Some one’ isn’t on the roster.
Use “I” to show that you are taking ownership of the message. Establishes the
starting point of the message.
Keep the message clear, avoid unnecessary details. KISS principle. Shared
heuristics help.
Use the appropriate emotional wrapper for the message. Failure results in
Double Binds for the receiver.
Require a response. Have them restate what you said back to you or observe
from their actions that they understood.
Don’t let the receiver disengage until you’re sure you both have a clear
understanding what has been communicated.

9. 9
Standardized Communications Tool
30:35 – 32:22
Standardized communications keep discussion to a minimum, allow for faster
integration of new members, or between groups that haven’t worked together.
Standardized communication looks to take advantage of shared heuristics.
These acronyms, metaphors, and rehearsed behaviors can convey far more
information then the energy they require to transmit. They are both rich in
content, fast and frugal in use.

10. 10
Five Communication Responsibilities
32:43 – 42:50
Briefing: be prepared to give as well as get a brief. Players who don’t want to
talk are a potential communication block.
Debriefing: see slide 3.
Communicate hazards: provide a heads up when necessary about potential
problems.
Acknowledge messages: the receivers responsibility to provide feed back to the
sender. What is the senders intent?
Ask if you don’t know: keep the communication open until you’re clear on what
is being communicated.

11. 11
After Action Review in Detail
43:07 – 49:46
AAR’s are an essential component in organizational learning.
AAR’s are one of the most under utilized and low cost tools that is available to
youth soccer. Most coaching follows either an industrial educational model;
coach centered; or the cruise ship recreational model; no worries, have another
drink and forget about it. The former is dependent on teaching curriculums
while the later doesn’t need to bother with accountability, reflection and
argument.

12. 12
Reaching a Decision
50:06 – 1:06:13
Recognition, option selection, decision point, action. A simplified version of
Boyd’s OODA loops. See the other SlideShare’s or YouTube videos.
Training: is a directed or guided experience. There’s an end point before you
start.
Field experience: real world experience in and outside soccer. The end point
emerges out of participation and reflection. It’s never certain before hand.
Preplanning: visualization, recall & recognition, on-going coup d'œil and
Fingerspitzengefühl.
When the world overwhelms training, field experience and preplanning you
enter new decisional territory. Become a bricolier, the Wag Dodge story.
“Recognition-primed decision (RPD) is a model of how people make quick,
effective decisions when faced with complex situations. In this model, the
decision maker is assumed to generate a possible course of action, compare
it to the constraints imposed by the situation, and select the first course of
action that is not rejected.” Wikipedia

13. 13
Conclusion
This model of decision making can be applied to any activity that involves people
working co-operatively in high-risk, time-constrained nonadversarial activities. The
addition of an active, intelligent adversary dramatically changes the picture. On one
hand, you have to deal with their attempts to mislead you with false information.
On the other, you cannot ignore opportunities to mislead them. Failure here
surrenders the initiative to the opponent and reduces your efforts to simple brute
force work. Playing soccer with all brawn, no brain and luck; sound familiar?
This “misleading” is at the heart of “getting inside their head.” While it increases the
mental demands on players it offers increased opportunities to win. Without it there
is no way to surprise the opponent. Unless you’re bigger, stronger, faster, you
cannot defeat them before the battle starts. That’s Clausewtiz without Sun Tzu.

14. 14
Thank You
“I’ll live or die by my own ideas.” Johann Cruyff
Presentation created June 2014, by Larry Paul, Peoria Arizona.
All references are available as stated.
All content is the responsibility of the author.
For questions or to inquire how to arrange a consultation or workshop on this
topic you can contact me at larry4v4@hotmail.com, subject line; decision/action
model.
For more information visit the bettersoccermorefun channel on YouTube,
http://www.youtube.com/user/bettersoccermorefun?feature=watch
or Street soccer, a guide to using small sided games at Udemy,
https://www.udemy.com/street-soccer-a-guide-to-using-small-sidedgames/?
sl=E0IZeFxSVw%3D%3D