THE 4-3-2 OF LEADERSHIP AND LEARNING

AUTHOR Martin Barry, Outdoor Educator

Those of us who mountaineer and coach mountaineering skills have long had access to a range of acronyms or simple models which are designed to be useful in aiding our ability to both teach and keep track of progress and position. For example, some years ago, during my Winter Mountain Leader courses I was reminded that during each navigation leg in conditions of poor visibility, I should always be able to answer these four main questions:

What will I expect to see if I overshoot the point I’m aiming for? What will I expect to see if I have not travelled far enough? What will I expect to see if I have drifted off to the left? What will I expect to see if I have drifted off to the right?

Other simple cognitive aids include ‘The 3 Ds’ of navigation; namely direction, distance and description. This is particularly useful when coaching those new to navigation, or when the confidence of an individual may be low. The primary task at the commencement of each leg is to ensure that direction is properly sorted (either by use of a bearing, or by relating the map to the ground). The second task is to calculate the distance, and hence duration, to the target. The final one is to consider the description of the ground as you travel over it, and what one may expect to see.

This is where the four questions which I was reminded of on Winter Mountain Leader come in really handy. This type of self-questioning is extremely valuable in creating and front-loading situational awareness, which has been shown to be vital in dynamic environments. It is especially advantageous in helping to promote thinking which considers what may happen in that environment in the immediate and near future. This is important when considering that a number of serious outdoor incidents and near misses have tended to show strong links to poor situational awareness ability (1). For example, flooding in caves, changes of tide and current conditions, building offshore breezes, the development of circumstances which are creating avalanche conditions, etc.

Although short-term and future situational awareness (2) capability is important, the ‘micro’ aspect is worthy of brief discussion here as it relates to factors of immediate security. A realistic example occurs when it is necessary to take a small step from a ledge if jumping into a pool, such as when gorge-exploring. If at the last moment a student or client baulks at the step out but has left the jumping spot, it is possible that they will collide with whatever it is they were stepping out to avoid.

Therefore, in anticipation of this event, the instructor or leader of a led group needs to be able to physically hold the student if necessary, or be in a position to oblige them to step off appropriately. Even on a flat and level jumping surface, there may be a requirement for the leader to be firmly anchored in order to perform the actions noted. This lack of awareness of immediate future events, compounded by the absence of an anchor for the instructor, led to the Grey Mare’s Tail fatality of 2006.

Those of us who paddle and coach paddlesport skills have had access to the CLAP acronym to facilitate decisions associated with river leadership. This simple model offers a robust and coherent mental framework to be utilised prior to paddling a rapid section of river. It is routinely used with peers, and when teaching students on a course to develop logical thought processes before making a decision which may affect the welfare of others, not just themselves.

The CLAP acronym is hard to reference and therefore attribute, but is likely to have originated from the British Canoeing coaching department in the early 1990s. It is of significant value because of its transferability across many activities and domains. For those who have not encountered the CLAP acronym, it refers to:

Communication

Line of sight

Avoidance

Position of most use / effectiveness

Communication suggests the necessity to pre-organise, this gives some structure and ensures it is agreed. It may be in the form of signals in a river context, whistle blasts in a gorge or caving context, or tugs on the rope in a climbing context. Occasionally it will be much more subtle than any of these.

Line of sight states that it is very advantageous to be able to see your client, student or peer, even if through an intermediary. Obvious examples can be found when multi-pitch climbing, or on a dog-leg section of river rapid.

Avoidance is one which deserves more attention than it receives and has close links to communication. For example, in preventing young students getting hypothermic on a mountain day in cool, damp conditions, avoidance suggests that appropriate warm layers are worn and waterproofs, hats and gloves are carried. In this context, the avoidance is in the ‘set-up’. Arguably the most important aspect of avoidance is in communication. For example, the communication of simple movement skills and patience in the brief discussion about how to carefully descend a steep rocky path which may otherwise result in trips or sprained ankles.

Position of most effectiveness considers where the leader or their delegate should be positioned, such that they can be of best use. Some consider that this position is adjacent to where the most serious instance could occur, but the majority view is that the position should be where there is the greatest likelihood of occurrence simply because the generation of a serious incident is continually ‘nipped in the bud’ by this positioning.

So, in mountaineering contexts we have the four questions and three Ds of upland navigation as noted above, plus the CLAP acronym developed within the paddling community, one which shows great levels of transferability across activities and sectors. I would like to show how these can be developed into a more complete framework, and then utilised in a broader range of outdoor contexts. To start with, the context of paddlesport will be used.

In elaborating on CLAP it is possible to develop the 4-3-2, which is a deluxe version of an already great framework. It is:

The 4 Questions, the 3 Principles and the 2 Eddy Rule

THE 4 QUESTIONS

1. Where do we want to go?

2. Where does the flow want to push us?

3. What moves do we need to perform in order to get to where we want to

4. What are the consequences of not being able to make those moves?

A worked example

In the role of a moving water leader with students, as the group descends it becomes apparent that the river narrows and bears right with a strainer on the outside of the bend occupying about 25% of the width of the channel. So;

1. Where do we want to go? Anywhere to the inside of the bend.

2. Where does the flow go? It sets vigorously to the outside of the bend and the strainer.

3. What moves do we need to make? Slow down and reverse ferry away from the strainer, or quick spin and forwards ferry towards river-right bank.

4. What happens if one of them can’t make the move? Potential for a nasty swim amongst water and branches.

This final self-question and answer as the leader or coach provides for a simple and quick dynamic risk assessment, which in this example may call for some modification as to how the group continues, and one which certainly helps to inform the P of CLAP.

These are 4 simple questions which pull out lots of information quickly, and can be offered to students or apprentices to enable them to make their own future decisions, consequently fostering independence and agency in what is termed a cognitive apprenticeship (3). In this paddling context it allows the individuals within the group to begin to quantify the amount of risk exposure they will tolerate, or modify specific elements to reduce it.

THE 3 PRINCIPLES

Arguably the easy bit and the stuff we now know more about, i.e. line of sight, avoidance and position of most usefulness. There are 3 because communication should be considered as a given, overarching structure.

THE 2 EDDY RULE

This ensures that two eddies are available to the weakest member of the group, before losing line of sight. In the case of a big eddy, one will often suffice, but whilst river leading and making judgements and decisions that affect the welfare of others, we obviously have to be sure that no-one is running the risk of not making a safe refuge.

So, we’ve got CLAP and now the enhanced, go-faster model in the 4-3-2. Using the acronym CLAP helps us look at the cold hard facts of river leading, but upgrading it to the 4-3-2 helps us do that and have a great framework for making those tricky decisions, whether coaching, leading, or paddling with peers.

It may be considered that a framework such as the 4-3-2 can be transferred across a range of Outdoor contexts, whether leadership biased or educationally focused. The framework of the 4 questions and 3 principles is relatively fixed, but there is scope for creativity and originality in the final 2 factors.

If the 4-3-2 is adopted for a typical day in an Outdoor Education centre for youngsters, a worked example within the context of an introductory caving session might look like the following:

A worked example

The 4 Questions (and answers)

1. Where do we want to go? In the cave we want to traverse across a mud bank a metre above a streamway.

2. Where does gravity, mud, or the flow of water want to push us? Although the mud is slippery and damp and has a trench caused by passage of other feet, gravity wants to pull us down into the streamway.

3. What physical moves do we need to perform in order to get to where we want to? The physical moves are that the young people need to keep their balance and carefully follow the trench with their feet.

4. What are the consequences of not being able to make those moves? The consequence of not being able to perform those physical moves is that they will slide or stumble into the streamway below.

The 3 Principles

Line of sight Is it possible to maintain this for the whole group? If not, adjust position or use an intermediary / assistant.

Avoidance Have the youngsters been appropriately briefed on what movements they will need to make?

Position of most use Is the leader in a position to spot, or communicate to each young person how to be successful? (The best place for communication may be more advantageous than being positioned for most serious occurrence). With an assistant, it should be possible to cover each of these tasks, but occasionally an informed choice must be made in considering the most likely need rather than the most serious.

The 2 ‘Learning through adventure’ aims

1. How much of the group’s time and focus do I wish to allocate to the sport and activity of caving?

2. How much of the group’s time and focus do I wish to allocate to focus on personal growth, teamwork development and environmental awareness?

Conclusion

This short article revisited some of the acronyms and models used in mountaineering, navigation and paddlesport, and developed them into a more comprehensive framework which I have termed the 4-3-2.

My experience of using the 4-3-2 in whitewater coaching and leadership has been very positive and it is considered that there is scope for valuable transfer of learning. Although the principles and structure offered need not be followed studiously, it is contended that the framework offers an evolving and dynamic risk assessment tool which is able to build in the educational aims of an Outdoor Learning session, and becomes especially useful when operating in more demanding professional environments