Cogplexiti LLC
Operational Leader’s Field Guide
Decision, Adaptation and Performance in Complex Incidents
A working reference for leaders accountable for outcomes in environments they cannot fully control. Develops the disciplines that operating under uncertainty requires — clear intent, decentralized execution, structured challenge, decision quality, and adaptation under pressure.
WHAT THIS BOOK IS
Practiced disciplines – not innate talent.
Complexity is outpacing the systems built to manage it. Plans lose relevance faster. Assignments last longer. Decisions carry greater consequence. Most leadership development teaches concepts; it does not develop the disciplines that operating under uncertainty actually requires.
The cases are drawn from the fireground — wildland, structure, and high- consequence response – but the disciplines are written for anyone who has to decide and act while the situation is still changing and information is incomplete.
The book is organized for three modes of use — read it, diagnose with it, and apply it — so it works at the desk and on the incident alike.
The disciplines are evidence-anchored — built from research in decision-making, sensemaking, and organizational safety, then tested against three decades of operational experience. What survived contact with actual incidents is in the book.”
FOR WHOM
Written for leaders accountable to outcomes
For leaders of leaders and above — from experienced Division/Group Supervisors and Battalion Chiefs through Operations Section Chiefs, Incident Commanders, Agency Administrators, and Fire Chiefs. Fire service and wildland fire are the through-line, but the disciplines hold for anyone accountable for outcomes in complex, high-consequence environments where the situation keeps moving and the information is never complete.
OPERATING ENVIRONMENTS
WILDLAND FIRE
STRUCTURE FIRE
NUCLEAR SECURITY
EMS
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT
MILITARY
COMPLEX OPERATIONS
INSIDE THE BOOK
Six problems the book was built to solve
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jayson Coil
Jayson Coil has spent nearly three decades leading, supporting, and learning from complex incidents across the United States — including more than three years of his career deployed on incidents, from Rodeo-Chediski and the Columbia shuttle recovery to Yarnell Hill, Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon, and the August Complex.
Mid-career, he returned to graduate school to study why capable leaders struggle under complexity — earning master’s degrees in psychology and leadership and completing doctoral coursework in industrial-organizational and performance psychology, with research focused on decision-making under conditions of complexity. The disciplines in the Field Guide come from both sides of that line: what the research says, tested against what the fireground allows.
A U.S. Army veteran, red team instructor, and founder of Cogplexiti LLC, he has helped develop the systems agencies use to manage major incidents and has contributed to national-level policy on incident response.
Jayson has presented on decision-making, red teaming, and incident leadership at the National Fire Academy, UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, Los Alamos National Laboratory, the U.S. Forest Service, and the Department of the Interior.”
Field Guide — Hardcover
7×10 in · Full color · ~498 pages
$74.95
Field Guide — Paperback
7×10 in · Full color · ~498 pages
$74.95
Companion — Paperback
5.25×8 in · Full color · 188 pages
$24.95
For Agencies & Institutions
Institutional orders & cohort pricing.
Volume pricing is available for training cohorts, academies, Incident Management Teams, and agency programs. Each order is quoted directly by the author based on edition, quantity, and intended use.
Built for leadership development curricula, pre-season IMT preparation, academy reading lists, and agency-wide professional development.
Advance Reviewers
In the hands of practitioners.
The Field Guide is currently with a senior reviewer panel. Endorsements will appear here in the weeks following launch.
“I really can’t compliment you enough for your outstanding compilation of so many important concepts in one place, easily accessible.
The OLFG Companion is now one of my ‘go-tos’ to help stimulate my own thinking when working through problems.”
Steve Rotkoff
Colonel, U.S. Army (Ret.)
Former Director, University of Foreign Military and Cultural Studies (Red Team University)
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