Keep your team thinking clearly when the pressure is on.
SwitchbackOS gives leaders and crews a shared set of hand-drawn frameworks for stress, communication and decision-making. Teams that use them fight fewer fires with each other and handle the real ones better.
Used by the U.S. Forest Service, BC Wildfire Service, RCMP critical incident teams and resource-sector crews.
Union grievances a year at one client with 100+ company and contract workers, after Switchback was built into the operation. Less disruption to production, and crews that talk to each other.
“This is absolutely outstanding training. The knowledge is immeasurably valuable for both work life and personal life. Everyone should get this training and understanding.”
Frameworks your whole crew can draw on a whiteboard.
Thirty years of field work distilled into simple diagrams, told with stories and humour, so people remember them on the line, not just in the classroom.
Front brain vs. back brain
Know whether you are deciding with the rational front brain or reacting on instinct. Teams that can tell the difference make fewer mistakes under stress.
Memory X's
Reframe hard past experiences so they stop driving reactions today. Moving the X’s reduces emotional strain and burnout.
Switchbacking
Spot the moment stress tips someone into fight, flight or freeze, stop it escalating, and bring the conversation back to rational thinking.
The 3-Lane Highway
A model of conversation: build rapport, handle the day’s operational work, then change lanes for the deep, difficult talks that solve real problems.
The 6 Profiles
Not a fixed personality type. Recognize which profile someone is operating in right now, and how to bring them back into the team.
Plus Operational Targets, The Gap, the Switchback Brain, Backstory and the Four Quadrants of Leadership.
See all frameworks in the courseThree ways in, from free to the full course.
Switchback Gold Letters
The newsletter on team dynamics, communication and leadership. Joining gets you the Solving Workplace Toxicity report right away.
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The Switched-On CEO
How to think like a world-class leader. The paperback ships free and comes with four video bonuses you can watch today.
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Switchback Foundation Course
Nine self-paced hours of the core frameworks, for leaders and front-line team members alike. 30-day money-back guarantee.
Enroll nowTraining that stays with the crew after we leave.
In person or virtual, tailored to your operation, and backed by refreshers so the language sticks over the five to ten years real culture change takes.
Built in a therapy practice. Proven on the fire line.
Steven Falk ran a marriage and family therapy practice for more than twenty years, building hundreds of frameworks to help people change. He brought that understanding of family systems into workplaces, from wildfire crews and government agencies to healthcare and the boardroom.
B.A., Columbia Bible College. M.A. in Marriage and Family Therapy, Fresno Pacific University. Over 30 years of practice.
Results people describe in their own words.
“Our organization benefited immediately after applying the principles presented, and the effects are still visible today in individual employees as well as with dynamic teamwork in the fire management environment.”
“Steven brings remarkable clarity to the causes and perpetuating factors that underlay sub-optimal workplace culture. He then provides practical and proven methods to transform a dysfunctional staff environment into a highly effective and cooperative team.”
“For every lunch break, I love to go outside and read. This is my latest read, and let me just say that I love this book! It’s all about systems and understanding people!”
One short story a week that makes you a steadier leader.
Steven Falk's letters on teams, pressure and the people you lead, each built around a real story and a framework you can use on Monday. Join today and get the Solving Workplace Toxicity report free.
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