Teamcast

Christine Stead is the CEO of ELSO: the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization. ELSO is the premier global nonprofit for ECMO and ECLS, connecting providers, researchers, and regulatory agencies across 66 countries and nearly 800 contributing centers worldwide. Earlier this year, Dan's conversation with Thomas Preston explored trust and communication at the bedside. They discussed what it takes...

This conversation originally aired December 6, 2022. Dr. Michael Platt is a Professor of Neuroscience, Psychology, and Marketing at the University of Pennsylvania and holds joint appointments at the Perelman School of Medicine, the School of Arts and Sciences, and the Wharton School. He is the founder of the Wharton Neuroscience Initiative and the author of The Leader's Brain . Preston and Michael...

We're continuing our conversation on human performance by asking why some performers keep improving under pressure while others hit a ceiling. One of the most powerful answers is curiosity. In this Teamcast, released in partnership with The Emergency Mind Podcast , Dan talks with Marius Aleksa, a performance advisor who has coached elite performers across professional baseball, special operations,...

Andy Walshe has spent his career at the frontier of human performance, from Australia's post-Sydney Games high-performance system, through a decade at Red Bull, to his current work with Liminal Collective across elite sport, government programs, and executive development. His assessment of where the field actually stands: about a ten out of a hundred. Harry and Andy dig into what that means. They...

Six years ago this week, on May 7, 2020, we released our first Teamcast on Residue . In that episode, Preston shared a conversation with Coleman Ruiz on the psychological and emotional substance left behind after choosing the hard path. The episode, and the paper that grew out of it , traveled further than we expected. Eight operators have since told us that paper is the reason they are still here...

What do theater, crisis response, military service, and social work have in common? More than you might guess. Adam Milano, faculty at UNC's School of Social Work, a military veteran, and theater-trained performer, joins Dan Dworkis to discuss how high-performance teamwork under pressure looks a lot like ensemble art. In this episode: You can't turn off the human part — and you shouldn't Invisible...

Ceci Craft has worked inside two of the most demanding performance cultures in the world — Army Special Operations and Major League Baseball. She's currently the Philadelphia Phillies' Director of Mental Performance, Life Skills, and Education, leading a staff of seven coaches across their MLB affiliates and the organization's academy in the Dominican Republic. When she made the move from working...

To celebrate NASA’s Artemis II test flight, scheduled for launch on Wednesday, April 1st, we're re-casting Preston's conversation with NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman from May 2023. The Artemis II test flight will be crewed by Commander Reid, Pilot Victor Glover, Astronaut Christina Koch, and Canadian Astronaut Jeremy Hansen for the 10-day lunar flyby mission, which will test the Orion spacecraft's li...

This week’s Recast is from Oct 2021. The episode explores how high-pressure performers can train, maintain, and recover their mental skills, with emphasis on using the right tools in the right way and avoiding unqualified “backyard” approaches. Host Harry Moffitt speaks with performance psychologist and cognitive coach Paddy Steinfort, who has worked with elite sports teams like the Philadelphia E...

In this episode of the Teamcast, Dr. Preston Cline and Dr. Art Finch discuss MCTI's most recent paper, “The Fourth Generation of Military Special Operations Selection and Assessment". Thanks to our collaborative inquiry community, we've received feedback and observations from special operations team members across the Five Eyes. Preston and Art reflect on that feedback and contrast the historical...

This week’s Recast is from April 2020. Why This Episode Matters Now: In 2022, the war in Ukraine revealed something our partners had been experiencing but we hadn't fully articulated: the traditional model of intact, homogeneous teams wasn't sufficient for the emerging operational environment. Individuals with diverse expertise, geography, language, and allegiances needed to rapidly converge into...

When a patient's heart or lungs fail, ECMO (Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation) technology can keep them alive—but only if the team operating it works flawlessly under pressure. In this episode, Thomas Preston draws on over 30 years of experience in cardiopulmonary care to reveal what it takes to manage these life-sustaining systems. This Teamcast episode covers the specialized roles within ECMO...

What happens when life-and-death decisions must be made by a team rather than an individual? In this episode, Dr. Mark Ramzy — cardiothoracic intensivist, emergency physician, and Co-Editor-in-Chief of REBEL EM — joins Dan to explore how teams think, decide, and act under pressure inside the ICU. If you value this discussion, the best way to support our work and stay up to date on future episodes...

In this episode, Preston discusses mission critical teams with Dr. Dawn Kernagis, the Scientific Director at DEEP. DEEP is an extreme environment technology and exploration organization with a mission to "Make Humans Aquatic." They explore the complexities and dynamics of individuals and teams working in undersea habitats and submersible systems. Dawn shares insights from her extensive experience,...

This week’s episode is a Recast as we review a fundamental conversation between Preston and Coleman Ruiz (MCTI’s co-founder and former Director of Performance) on the concept of "Residue"—the psychological and emotional substance left behind after immersion in high-stakes environments. As we approach the end of the year, we are revisiting this episode to help our listeners navigate the transition...

In this episode, our Chief Medical Officer Dan Dworkis works with Alex Hodson, a seasoned critical care physician assistant, to explore the dynamics of high-functioning multi-professional healthcare teams, the training pipeline for APPs, and the importance of feedback and teamwork across disciplines. Gain insights into the challenges and rewards of working in high-stress environments and understan...

This week, we’re revisiting a conversation between Preston and Dr. Art Finch, a veteran psychologist from the US Special Operations Command. This episode (previously published in 2020) covers the unique psychological profiles of mission critical teams.  Channel a beginner's mind and re-explore why some individuals choose the extraordinary path of high-risk, immersive environments while others...

In today’s Teamcast, Harry and Martin Jones discuss the role of psychologists as servants in high-performance environments, the rule of thirds in learning, psychological performance and speed cameras, and how high-quality sleep is still a work in progress and is not the last thing we do at night, but the first thing we do in our day. Martin is a sport and exercise psychologist. He is also a sleep...

Dr. Dan Dworkis and Dr. Art Finch, MCTI's Director of Psychology, discuss the complexities of reintegrating into family life after high-stress, mission-critical work. They introduce 'On Coming Home,' a workbook designed to help both operators and their families navigate the reintegration process. The conversation highlights the importance of patience, gratitude, and understanding that coming home...

Today, we welcome Dave Robson, Chief Engineer at Atlassian Williams Racing. Dave shares his extensive career journey spanning 25 years in F1, starting with McLaren and now at Williams. He delves into topics such as leadership, team organization, and the balance between data and intuition in high-pressure environments. The conversation also explores the challenges of training new engineers without...

Eric Benoit, acute care surgeon at Lahey Hospital, and Andrew Petrosoniak, emergency physician at St. Michael’s Hospital, join Chief Medical Officer Dan Dworkis on the Teamcast to discuss operating with uncertainty in high-stakes medical environments. This episode, released in collaboration with The Emergency Mind podcast, addresses managing risk, performing under pressure, and the importance of d...

“Find those people who are your allies, have confidence in yourself, have confidence in your competence.” This episode features an in-depth conversation with FDNY Deputy Chief Michele Fitzsimmons, who shares her career journey and discusses the evolution of the department.  Michele shares her journey from working with HIV/AIDS patients to becoming a firefighter and eventually rising through t...

After a brief summer break, The Teamcast is back! In this episode, Preston sits down with Harry for a deep dive into the philosophy of high performance, resilience, and the human psyche. They explore a range of topics, from the role of Stoicism in modern life and the journey from a military mindset to psychology, to the concept of adaptive learning and the importance of social connections for team...

In this episode, Chief Medical Officer Dan Dworkis interviews Dr. Sean Griffiths, who shares his experiences and insights from his training and career in emergency medicine, both within the United States Air Force and civilian practice. The two talk through the stark differences between various emergency care environments, the importance of leadership, and the challenges of preparing for high-stak...

This week's episode features Preston's conversation with Dr. David Gens, who is best known as the trauma surgeon who treated Ronald Reagan after he was shot in 1981. Dr. Gens remains an attending surgeon at Shock Trauma and is also one of the most influential trauma resident educators worldwide. [10:25] Residue, Acute Stress, & Long-term Stress - Dr. Gens gives his experience with managing str...