Run, Hide, Fight? Or Lock Out, Get Out, Take Out?

Mark Warren of Strategos says training has consequences.

“Run, Hide, Fight” is a popular approach to intruder response training advocated by the federal government. While something is better than nothing, Strategos International believes this approach has serious flaws that could lead to confusion, injury or even loss of life. Strategos has developed an alternate approach: Lock Out, Get Out, Take Out. Vice President Mark Warren explains the differences between the two approaches and why they matter.

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Where "Run, Hide, Fight" comes from

"Run, Hide, Fight" is the model promoted by the federal government and widely repeated in workplace training. Its appeal is simplicity: three words, easy to remember, easy to put on a poster. As a starting point for people who have never thought about an attack, it has value.

But "training has consequences," as Strategos Vice President Mark Warren puts it. What you train is what people default to when they are terrified and out of time. And a three-word sequence carries a hidden message: do them in this order. Run first. Hide if you cannot run. Fight only if you must.

Why order is the wrong idea

Real attacks do not arrange themselves to fit a sequence. Sometimes the safest first move is to lock a door, not run past the threat to reach an exit. Sometimes there is no time to hide and the only survivable option is to act immediately. A model built on order can cost the seconds that decide the outcome.

Strategos teaches Lock Out, Get Out, Take Out as options, not steps. The change in framing is the whole point. People are trained to ask one question first: where is the threat, and what can I control right now? Then they choose.

Training judgment, not reflexes

The goal of good active threat training is not to install a reflex. It is to build judgment that works under stress. That comes from rehearsing decisions in realistic scenarios, in your own environment, until choosing becomes natural. A poster cannot do that. Repetition and realistic practice can.

If your current training stops at three words on a wall, it is a start, not a program. The organizations that are genuinely prepared have moved their people from memorizing a slogan to making fast, sound decisions.