Is Everything at Work Really an Emergency? – Former Bomb Tech Devan Trammel

Devan Trammel used to walk toward live bombs for a living. Literally. That was his job on a US Air Force bomb squad, which he joined at 19. From there, he helped start a technology incubator at the Pentagon before getting an MBA at Stanford. After all that, he has a very short list of what counts as risk at work: "someone dying, or you're going to bankrupt the entire business, or you're going to really hurt people." Everything else, he says, is "really just management." Connor and Devan get into: the question he asks in front of a live bomb: "What is the worst thing that could absolutely happen in this scenario, and what actions would I have to take to make that happen?" why he hid his mistakes from his team, and the commander whose one story made him call everyone who had ever worked for him to apologize why his team took three minutes to write down what they thought before anyone said a word, so nobody would just agree with the boss the crochet snail he pulled out in the middle of the test that decided whether he'd lead a bomb team the movie soundtrack he listens to on the way to a bomb If everything at work feels like a live bomb, or you've been hiding your mistakes from your team, start here. Chapters 00:00:00 Intro 00:01:33 Why he joined the bomb squad at 19 00:03:59 What the job actually is 00:06:27 The leaking package in England 00:09:15 The 250-pound bomb in Charleston 00:13:50 Staying calm in front of a live bomb 00:15:11 Why he stopped pretending to be perfect 00:20:18 Why the leader talks last 00:22:51 Why attitude is non-negotiable 00:24:16 Humor in the field 00:28:22 Why harder work needs more humor 00:30:35 Volunteering for Thanksgiving week in Appalachia 00:32:20 Treating the food crew like Michelin chefs 00:34:00 Leaving the military 00:37:29 Should leaders think more about death? 00:39:10 Most risk isn't really risk 00:40:53 What he's still working on 00:42:44 The billboard