The first time I was placed in charge of a field surveillance operation was in Navy SEAL training. After my team and I set up our “hide”, the location from which we would observe our target, I went to find the instructors and let them know we were ready to begin the exercise.
As I was about to point them in the direction of the hide they told me not to worry, they would find it, and started off in the direction I came.
This was laughable to me. We worked hard to ensure we were positioned in such a way that no one could see us and that we were camouflaged appropriately. There was no way the instructors could find us. In the end, it took them about 10 minutes to locate every member of our six-person team.
The lesson here was clear. We were to be surveilling our target for (only) 24 hours and, the instructors explained, it was human nature to find the most comfortable place to settle in. From a distance, sure, maybe we were invisible. But someone looking to
disrupt what we were doing could easily find us. Why? Because they also would go to the most comfortable place to look. Again human nature.
The instructor saw my confusion and walked me over to a huge swath of thorn bushes. “Would you ever go in there and look for someone?” I admitted, no, probably not. “Then that’s where you should be.”
Simple as that.
Over the years my teams and I set up surveillance locations that made the thorn bushes look like paradise, often for several days on end. Sleep, comfort, warmth, restrooms, conversation, or anything that made you feel normal, or human were never in
abundance during these operations.
So, how does this apply to you or your team?
Your challenge is to think about what your personal, family, team, or company’s thorn bush is.
Most often we choose not to see the thorn bush that will give us success in the end. It’s too hard, we get too lazy, and we feel at peace operating where 99% of the people, families, teams, and companies do, the comfort zone.
So, in 2024, if you’re looking to have massive impact, do yourself a favor and go operate in the thorn bush. Trust me, there’s plenty of room and plenty of opportunities to disrupt your status quo there.
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