Ep 136: Change...Why Is It So Hard?

If you’ve ever tried to line up law enforcement, fire, EMS, 911, and schools around one ASIM plan, you know the real friction isn’t the curriculum; it’s everything around it. In this episode, Bill Godfrey, Kami Maertz, and Brian Beechner look at why ASIM training so often stalls out after the first class and how to design a program that actually sticks. They organize the problem into four buckets – policy, partners, training, and maintenance – and share what they’ve seen work across jurisdictions. They cover how to use inverted thinking (“let’s list all the ways this could go wrong”) to get honest engagement, why one joint policy anchored on the ASIM Checklist beats a stack of siloed SOPs, and how to build a tiered training plan for line personnel, first‑line supervisors, and incident managers. They also dig into the long game: roll‑call refreshers, integrating ASIM elements into everyday calls, budget planning over multiple years, and tapping emergency management and grants so the program doesn’t quietly fade. If you’re a chief, sheriff, fire/EMS leader, 911/PSAP director, emergency manager, or school/system leader charged with readiness, this conversation gives you a practical roadmap for moving beyond once‑a‑year classes to a sustainable ASIM capability. For questions or support with ASIM in your region, reach out to our team and we’ll talk through what makes sense for your agency mix and budget. Like what you hear? Drop a review and subscribe to our Podcast Channel. If you have questions, you can send them to [email protected] with “Podcast Question” in the subject line. Check out our websites and learn more about C3 Pathways / NCIER by going to: https://www.c3pathways.com or https://www.ncier.orgThe Active Shooter Incident Management Podcast is owned by C3 Pathways and NCIER. None of the content presented may be copied, repurposed, or used without the owner’s prior consent.