The 90 Percent Police Chase
I like watching COPS, especially the chases. And especially the chases on foot. I would think that police officers would use all their energy to sprint to apprehend a suspect but, apparently, this isn’t the case. In order to have the power and stamina to apprehend someone after a chase, officers use a 90 percent rule. That is, only sprint on a foot chase at 90 percent so you don’t burn through your energy reserves and have nothing left to make an arrest. (Note: this factoid was shared with me anecdotally. This rule may be personalized per officer or per department.)
When I look at people in jobs that don’t pay well and don’t have a wide range of upward mobility, it seems like they’re using all their energy every day. Said another way, they’re not saving ten percent to chase other opportunities. Whether you work at KFC or a fancy, full-professor-tenured Ivy League faculty job, you might always devote a percentage to looking for new opportunities.
Jobs are shifting faster than ever. With the advent of AI, automation, and overseas involvement in industries, it’s a great year to devote 10% to preparing to chase other opportunities. And this pursuit is not to the detriment of your current job. You can see it as a sharpening process for your day job. And employers can adopt the perspective that agile employees are stronger and more valuable to the organization. (Though employers don’t always see it this way.)
How do you save 10% of your energy for exploring the future? Even if you love your job and your job doesn’t change, maybe YOU change. What if you no longer love your job? What if another season of your life finds you as a different person who is not fit for your current profession?
[It’s an excellent time to read Who Moved My Cheese? “Smell the cheese” can be a good motivator. If you’re a checker at Walmart and you devote 100 percent of your professional efforts to checking, you could miss the fact that the checking job is disappearing right before your eyes.]
How do you visualize your job? As a full sprint? Could you use some of your social media/sports/YouTube energy to pursue another type of professional field? What if you saw yourself never in a sprint? What if you were never taken by surprise when your job changes? (Because you had saved energy to stay sharp for other opportunities?). What if you were never so exhausted from the sprint that you wouldn’t hesitate to seize another opportunity?
Maybe your instincts tell you that you should sprint at 100%. But, what part of the day could you use to reallocate 10% of your time/energy to prepare for the future?
https://livepd.org/videos/season4/live-pd-top-5-foot-pursuits/