Background
The Cooper Color Code is an excellent model known in military and security circles that creates a standard around increasing levels of mental alertness – or situational awareness. Similar to other models that measure danger or threat levels this one uses color coding to identify different stages.
However, instead of associating colors with the level of risk, this system uses them to focus on the level of alertness that a person is in mentally; how prepared they are to address a threat instead of how likely a threat is to occur.
This model is known as the Cooper Color Code. It is credited in this form to Lieutenant-Colonel John Dean Cooper, who served in the USMC during WWII and the Korean War. After his service he started a firearms training firm and authored several books. In Principles of Self Defense he set forth the mental readiness level code that now bears his name.
What is the Cooper Color Code?
- Condition White – In Code White, you are unaware of your surroundings and unable to react should something happen. An obvious example of this mental state is sleeping – someone would obviously be unaware of any nearby potential danger. However, many have noticed, quite accurately, that staring a smart-phone screen (or other digital device) can also put a person in Code White. They are mentally cut-off from what is occurring around them. Ideally, a person would only exist in this state when they are in their most secure personal environments; such as their home.
- Condition Yellow – In Code Yellow, you are in the “on” mode. Your senses are alert and your brain is ready to function. This is not an anxious state, but merely a condition of standard alertness. This mode usually requires very little action or reaction. It simply means that if something happens nearby, you are able to use your senses to notice it in the moment. In this state you are conscious that something could happen and that a response might be required of you.
- Condition Orange – In Code Orange, you have noticed a specific threat or problem and have now focused your attention on it. You do not necessarily take any action, but you concentrate your senses and thoughts on what possible actions may need to be taken in the near future. If the threat dissolves or you are able avoid it, you step back into Code Yellow.
- Condition Red – In Code Red, you are taking action to mitigate a threat or problem. In this state you are actively engaged in reducing the threat. This typically happens through fight or flight. Code Red is most effective when it has been reached by going through the previous two stages of Yellow and Orange.
An additional stage to this Color Code has been added by some, which is called Code Black. This typically refers to a state of panic, or perhaps blackout, which is an overwhelming of the senses to the point where you are unable to respond to the threat or problem that faces you. The quickest way to Code Black would be a surprise threat overwhelming you while in Code White.
If the conditions of Yellow, Orange, and Red are followed through in an attentive and proactive way, Code Black can be avoided in most any situation.
How do I apply the Cooper Color Code?
So, what does this have to do with you?
Don’t be put off by the military-style phrasing. This can be a useful, common sense approach to daily life. When you are out grocery shopping, watching your kids at the park, or sharing a meal at a local restaurant, what condition are you in? Are you alert, ready to use your senses? Or are you in Code White, totally unaware of any problems heading your way and unprepared to respond to them?
Start by noticing what color you often find yourself in while out in public. Then, work to keep yourself in Condition Yellow as much as possible – conscious of your surroundings, but still engaged and having fun.
By applying Cooper’s Color Code to your daily life you not only put yourself in a better state of mental preparedness, but you are also going to engage more positively with the world around you.
