Dr Scott Gayton’s Research Week address began in a pitch-black theatre within the Faculty of Health Sciences & Medicine.
While the loss of lights perplexed some of the general audience, Dr Gayton, a registered psychologist with more than 25 years of military experience, explained that some people felt more comfortable sitting in the darkness than others.
The flick of the lights flicked on a methodical train of thought for a few trained members of the crowd.
“For some people, when they walked in, they would have seen that the exit signs are to the right, that there are five seats to their left, and that if they turned left and walked straight… they would find a chair in front of the door of the exit sign and they would know they have to get to the other side,” Dr Gayton said.
He explained that those are the same people who, upon boarding any aircraft, count the exit signs and the seats, listen attentively to the safety briefing, and ponder rehearsing an emergency evacuation.
“These are the people who we talk about and give thanks for, who put service above self,” he said.
Dr Gayton is talking about tactical personnel, and there’s a whole team at Bond University working tirelessly to optimise the performance of these people who are on standby to protect the community anywhere they go.
From military personnel to law enforcement, firefighters, and first responders — since 2015, Bond’s Tactical Research Unit (TRU) has prioritised the performance and safety of our protectors.
Dr Gayton, from Mission Critical Team Performance Consultancy, supports the TRU as an assistant researcher.
His keynote address, Creating Mission Critical Teams, during Research Week 2023 shared expert insight concerning selecting personnel for, and characteristics of, mission-critical teams (MCTs) and high-reliability teams (HRTs).
Dr Gayton touched on environmental factors, theory on the origins of these teams, selection, training, mental health and fatigue.
He said there was work happening across a range of areas as organisations need to take a holistic approach when it comes to the selection, training, and support of personnel.
“You can’t just look at fitness as a selection tool for MCTs… you can’t just look at a psychological personality test,” he said.
“And training — you can’t just train by going to the kill house every time and think that’s going to cover the variety of missions and profiles that will emerge.”
Dr Gayton said he was looking forward to seeing more experimental data in the space.
“It needs to be operationalised, that’s the future,” he said.