Coordinate and act
Escape Routes First
Agree who is watching, how you signal trouble, and how you back out, before a risky effort starts.
Borrowed from the LCES checklist (Lookouts, Communications, Escape routes, Safety zones) used by wildland firefighters in the United States. Read the original source.
Ongoing habit · Minutes to start · Anyone on the team can start it
Try this first
Agree three things first. Who watches, how we signal, how we back out.
Use it when
A team is about to commit to a risky, fast AI-enabled task.
Skip it when
It suits risky, fast-moving efforts. Routine work does not need the setup, and applying it everywhere makes every task feel like a crisis.
How to introduce it
Before the team takes on risky, fast-moving work, especially work leaning hard on AI, settle the safety basics. Wildland crews post lookouts and pick escape routes before they engage a fire. Name who watches for trouble, how people signal it, and how the team backs out cleanly. All of it before the work starts, none of it improvised mid-crisis.
How to show up
Walk the team through the basics before the work begins and do not let eagerness skip them. Press for specifics. Who is watching, what exactly signals a pull-back. Not we'll keep an eye on it.
How long it takes
Fifteen to thirty minutes before a risky effort begins.
What makes it hard
The urge to start pushes teams past the setup, which is exactly when it matters. Hold the line. People also give soft answers, so press for named roles and real retreat conditions.
What it looks like when it's working
When a risky effort turns, a watcher catches it early and the team pulls back cleanly instead of scrambling. Trouble finding you with no lookout and no exit means the setup got skipped.
How long until it sticks
A couple of efforts before setting up the safety basics first becomes an automatic first step.
How you know it stuck
The team asks who is watching and how we back out before taking anything risky on.
The idea behind it
You set the way out before you go in. Naming the watcher and the retreat is what lets a team take a real risk safely.
Where it comes from
Wildland firefighting. Before a team commits to a risky, fast task with AI, agree the equivalent: who's watching, how we talk, and how we back out if it goes wrong. Before engaging, crews establish Lookouts, [Anchor points], Communications, Escape routes, and Safety zones. A short, memorable checklist that must be in place before you take on the fire.
Why it matters for senior teams
It shapes direction and consequential decisions