Skip to content

Archives for leadership

See all posts in the network tagged with leadership

Have You Been “Departmentally Institutionalized”?

1 comment

 

Oh man. Not feelin' it today for some reason. I definitely need a cup of regulah to get me going. Grab yerself some too and have a seat here with me.

Teaching gives someone a unique opportunity that not everyone else in a given field has. It gives a person the chance to look around and see how other people do things. It gives them a chance to meet new people and have discussions in which information is shared, tips and tricks are discussed and new ideas are formulated. Obviously you don't have to be an instructor in your given field for this opportunity to present itself. In fact, in the private sector it is most commonly called networking, I believe. Getting together with others that have similar job descriptions and chatting them up. Sometimes the purpose is to get feelers out for a better position. Sometimes it's to see what the competition is cooking up and sometimes it's just to see how other people do things. The difference between the fire service and private industry is that if we don't ever want to network or expand our horizons we really never have to whereas in business you almost certainly will have to endure some outside training sessions or conferences at some time. What I mean as it relates to us in the fire service is that once you get hired by a department you get sent to an academy. If your department is not large enough to run their own you may get sent to a neighboring department for theirs or to a regional training academy. Once you succesfully complete the academy and return to your company, and assuming you have all mandatory certifications for your department, you never have to attend any outside training again in your career unless you really want to. There are plenty of firefighters I know who have been content to stay a basic-level firefighter and have done only the classes and drills required of them while they are on shift. They never attend outside classes, read the trade journals, read fire service blogs or web sites or attend conferences where, outside from the actual training, you can meet firefighters from other places and chew the fat with them. This leads to what one jake I know describes as "Departmental Institutionalization."

So what is "Departmental Institutionalization"? Well, basically, it means a person has been born into an organization and never left. They receive all their training from one spot which in turn leads to the development of difficult to break organizational mores and deeply held personal beliefs as to the right and wrong way of doing tings. This can often be a detriment not only to the individual but to their company and organization as well. Some would say that being trained in "the way of the department" for which you work is essential and a good thing. And I would agree to a point. I certainly want the candidates coming onto my job to know how to pull and re-pack our hoseloads, what the job is of each seat on the apparatus is, our running procedures etc. But not for their whole careers. I don't want our training division to be the sole source of information for the candidates or anyone else in our department. What if there's a better hose load? What if there is new technology out there? What if there is new research that can help us perform our job better, but no one knows about it because everyone is content to sit back on their laurels and just go to drill every shift and never take the time to invest in themselves and their career away from work? That's one aspect of "Departmental Institutionalization". The other can be even more damaging than just rolling up inside your department's cocoon and never coming out. Unfortunately it's one that we may have much less ability in influencing.

The other side of "Departmental Institutionlization" comes from on-high. Sometimes organizations breed a level of rigidity into themselves that members are afraid to stretch for fear of discipline, humiliation or a combination of both. Sometimes a department becomes so narrowly focused on itself that it never looks around to see if anyone else has any good ideas. New ideas or methods are not encouraged, and when someone does brave the waters and tries to prsent something new the organization sets up road-blocks like submitting proposals in triplicate, or meetings that continuously get rescheduled or the worst form of blow-off there is; your proposal that you spent hours on, made into triplicate, had notorized, applied for a patent and even found the guy in charge of that particular area of your organozation's operation and handed it right to him, wound up with coffee stains and jelly donut on it in a stack that never got looked through. Think it doesn't happen? I found a proposal I had written a year later in a box withother paperwork I was asked to shred. I had never heard anything on the proposal after I had submitted it despite numerous inquiries as to where it stood. Really makes someone want to put forth the effort again, huh?

Maybe the most damaging form of "Departmental Insitutionalization" comes from the ever looming threat of discipline. This almost always results in individuals scared to perform outside of what has been narrowly defined for fear of paper in their file. This then leads to organizational paralysis and stagnation because everyone just keeps performing in the way that has always been expected and what has been proven to be "safe". This can range from the way reports are completed and submitted all the way to operations on an emergency scene. This job is too dynamic and ever-changing to attempt to define techniques and methods as the only "approved" way of doing things.

I was teaching a class on RIC operations once. It was a class for operating personnel and not for candidates or those members in the academy. As such I wasn't planning on having to do much in the way of actually presenting "new" material and really having to begin from the ground up. I figured most students would have a good foundation in the techniques that were going to be covered. Throughout the two-day course I saw one member from a department I didn't know much about continually struggle. Not so much that he couldn't do what was asked of him but that he just seemed a couple steps behind everyone else. Just before lunch on the second day I went to talk to him during a break. I kind of gently told him I noticed he was having trouble keeping up with everyone else and asked him if he was ok or if there was a problem. The answer he gave me was not what I was expecting. As it turns out this person's department had exactly one approved method for moving a downed firefighter through the interior of a building, up a hole in a floor or down a ladder from a window or other opening. One. For each of those scenarios. No matter what the conditions, complications or difficulties. One. Approved. Method. Because of this many of the techniques we had been using during the class were brand new to him. He had never seen them, heard of them or been shown them so he had no foundation on which to build like the other members of the class. He was learning it all for the first time. Oh, and because that was the way it was in his department, he paid for this class himself because the department would not. Paralysis and stagnation in an extremely fast-paced and dynamic job. Pretty much polar opposites right? Like two magnets you try and push together? Just doesn't work.

So where does that leave us? Well, if you're a product of your department's inbreeding program, start looking around. It's not hard. You must already be doing it to some extent if you're reading this post. Pick up a trade magazine and read through it. Start looking at other websites, there's 20 or so just to the right of this post that are great places to start. Maybe, just maybe, go to a class somewhere other than your department and while you're there talk to and listen to the other firefighters that are there. Then, if you find something that may be of use to your organization, bring it back to your company. Start there. Maybe it'll catch on and before long it's a department standard. But don't be satisfied there. Come back to it a little while later and see if you can improve upon it.

If you feel like our straight-jacketed friend up there in the picture when you're at work, well, I'm not going to lie to you, you have to make a choice. Are you going to try and do something about it or are you content to be a robot? It can be a dangerous and slippery slope trying to get new ideas and methods looked at. May even run the risk of setting your career back a little bit. But it's up to you to decide how important it is to try and get things to change.

This video is short, only about three minutes or so, but if you're in this situation it is well worth the look. Jason Hoevelmann over at A Firefigher's Own Worst Enemy had it up on his site and I thought it was great. Take a look.

Derek Sivers: How to start a movement.

 

So there you have it. Maybe you're not the guy that needs to be the one to start the revolution. Maybe you just need to be the second nutty shirtless guy dancing like an idiot. Think about it.

Now getjerbutts of 'da Tailboard and go start dancin'!

~TK

Posted by on November 23, 2011 • Filed under: administration-leadership, fire-rescue-topics, General Rants, Leadership • Tagged: , , , , , , ,

Our Kids

No comments

*Image from Uniform Duds for Kids.

 

Everyone got there cahffee? Grab some diamond plate. This one might stir up some lively discussion.

So the other night I was listening to an on-line podcast over at FirefighterNetCast that is hosted by Christopher Naum entitled "Taking it to the Streets, The New Fireground and the First-Due." If you click the link you can listen to the replay of the show. The guests were Division Chief Ed Hadfield, Coronado, CA. FD and Deputy Chief Jason Hoevelman of the Sullivan Fire Protection District, MO. The main point of the podcast was talking about the new firground, how we need to start changing our thinking and tactics at some of these fires with new construction methods and new hydrocarbon-rich fuels burning. The show was great with many good points being brought up and discussed by the host and the guests. But I'd like to talk about another great aspect of the show. In case you have never attended a NetCasts show in person you're really missing out. In addition to the great content there is a live chat-room that runs throughout the show in which the producers of the show, the host, the guests and then the listeners all type-chat with each other. It is a great feature and really leads to some great discussion and information sharing.  There is also a call-in number that you can either dial from any phone or use Skype to call in and talk directly to the host and guest(s). It is a topic that was brought up in the chat room and then commented on by the guests that I would like to discuss today.

One of the listeners typed a simple question into the chat-room. I don't remember it exactly so I'm going to paraphrase here, "Is there something different about todays younger firefighters definition of "work" than, say, the older generation's?" A couple people chimed in and then another listener typed his opinion that basically said, paraphrasing again, "Yes. Kids today often haven't had a real job before getting to the fire department. They don't know what real work is." I agree with that sentiment, for the most-part. Anyone with the least little bit of knowledge of the history of our job knows that the number of firefighters coming from the ranks of the construction and mechanical trades has dropped significantly. Those that come from a farm, factory or some other background where mechanical apptitude is needed as a way of life are even fewer. On the flip-side we are getting more firefighters with college education and knowledge that, while may not be directly applicable to the fireground, is very valuable to the department as a whole. Computers, legal issues, radio equipment and communication skills come immediately to mind as examples.  A little more discussion in the chat-room ensued and then Division Chief Hadfield typed a response, paraphrasing, "The kids haven't changed. They just need to be LED!". Again, I agree with that statement too, for the most-part. I'm sure when the legions of carpenters, electricians, plasterers and plumbers entered the fire service in the '40's, '50's and '60's there was some of this sentiment too. I can imagine the barn-boss grumbling, "Sure 'dis kid can swing a hammer but he can't roll hose for s**t!" Or, "Hey junior! When I want you to come to my house and patch my plaster I'll call 'ya. Until then, sit there and shut-up." That's just the way of the fire service. We're gonna break your stones for a while until we find out what you're really made of. But there's a major difference between yesterdays kids and todays, and it's what I think the listener who responded to the question was talking about.

So, 20 and 30 years ago (and more) you had these tradesmen or guys that worked in factories or on farms that became firemen. Many of them had also served in the military during war-years. They brought special skill-sets that revolved around those trades or mechanical apptitude but they also brought something else. In general, the candidate-firefighters of old brought an ability to follow orders, think on their feet and put in a hard days work. Life was vastly different back then, even as recently as the '70's. No one sat around playing video games all day, or glued to their smart-phones or were handed things by their comparatively well-off Mommies and Daddies. No, most of the older generation firefighters worked, or fought, for what they had. Which left precious little time or expendable income for "fun" stuff. Many of the kids I see today, whether it be in my own department or teaching at the academy, have either had no real job to speak of or worse yet, have had many different small jobs. I say "worse yet" because I have asked several of these candidates why they hopped from one menial job to the next in their short work-life and more times than not I get answers like, "I couldn't stand my boss," or "My boss had it out for me," or "I  wasn't being paid what I deserved," or my personal favorite, "It took up too much time so I quit." Huh?!?! So now they want to be firefighers. And suddenly they are forced to report for duty earlier than many have had to get out of bed in years, they have to dress in a certain, prescribed and detailed manner, follow orders that are being barked at them, do certain things at certain times without question, think on the fly in a very fast-paced environment, learn the use of a multitude of tools, learn foreign materiel i.e. building construction and put in a harder days work than many of them have ever done. Talk about a culture shock! It's no wonder we have some trouble in getting through to these kids. Our academies and probationary time is not set-up to allow for a learn-at-your-own-pace approach. You have a set amount of time to complete the academy and the rquirements or fail. You have a set amount of time to make probation or fail. Except in a very few cases, there are no do-overs or time extensions. Sink or swim lads and lasses. 

Now here's where I think Chief Hadfield's comment comes into play. I don't necessarily think he was disagreeing with the listener's comment. I think what he was trying to say was that more officers, and senior firefighters, need to step-up and show our "babes in bunkers" the way. Another listener typed a comment that I think is reflective of an emerging problem in the fire service today. The listener said, "Too many officers "lead" from the office." Obviously nothing I, or anyone else says can be construed as being reflective of any entire department. However, I have seen in person and talked to more and more firefighters who have that exact complaint. That their Lieutenant or Captain sits in his or her office all day and they never see them until the tones drop or someone needs to be yelled at. When it comes to spider-solitaire, checking their e-mails or their stock portfolios or running their side-business they're the bomb. As a company officer, in its truest sense, not so much. Now that's not to single-out the officers only. There's plenty of senior guys who do the exact same things and never invest one second in the new boot. IMHO, er, in my humble opinion (I learned that one from one of those kids) many of us older guys are just as much to blame. These kids need to be led, yes, but don't expect that you're going to take them onto the floor, haul out your extrication equipment and in 10 minutes teach them all the ins and outs like you would with a guy that has worked with heavy tools and equipment before. It's just not gonna happen. In the same vein, when you're sitting around having an impromptu training session at the local building under construction don't throw out building terms like, lintle, top-plate and bearing wall and expect these kids to completely get it like the carpenter on the shift. Many of these kids learn just enough for the test they have to take on building construction, and other subjects, in the academy but have no real practical understanding in real-life. Many of these subjects are going to need to be reviewed and in some cases, completely re-taught. It ain't gonna happen over night brothers and sisters.

Be ready for something else, folks. The "whys" and "this is stupids". Now, to many of us the automatic and best response to those two statments would be a tersely stated, "because I said so" or some version of that retort. Many of us grew up in the fire service under officers who led with iron fists and little in the way of management or personal communication training. An officer or senior member gave you an order and you did it without question or hesitation or be prepared to suffer the wrath. That approach doesn't work with these kids. While it kind of doesn't make sense that they only want to study the absolute minimum to get by for the tests in the academy they actually do want an explanation as to why they are doing some particular thing or other in that particular way. And if that explanation consists of, "because that's the way we've always done it" or some other time-honored traditional response you may get met with the "this is stupid" retort. And guess what folks, in some cases they may be right. Remember, we're kind of set in our ways, brought up in a different fire department. These kids look at things differently and are more technology savvy. Those explanations we simply accepted and shut-up aren't good enough for them. Many times they don't mean offense or insult by their statements, it's just part of their lexicon and their everyday operation. Sometimes we need to take a deep breath and remember that. Then back-up and perhaps explain a little more in-depth or ask what exactly their question is so we can better answer it. Again, they, and we, won't change over night. But I think both our groups need to be willing to.

Well, until next time, getjerbutts off 'da tailboard and go invest in a younger member! Just be patient.

~TK

Posted by on August 19, 2011 • Filed under: administration-leadership, Archive, fire-rescue-topics, General Rants, Leadership, Tradition, Pride, Ownership, training-development, training-fire-rescue-topics • Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , ,

New Training Opportunities

No comments

 

Everybody got some regulah? Grab a seat.

Today I want to talk about some new training opportunities that will be coming our way. And by "our way" I mean close to home. There's a new fire and EMS training company in the market and they are looking to revolutionize the way training is given in a congerence setting. Go>Forward Fire and Leadership Training has announced two innagural training conferences, one in St. Charles, Missouri in October and the other in King of Prussia Pennsylvania in November. So in a roughly 5 hour drive from our area you can attend a three day, high quality training conference that will break the model for training conferences. More on that in a miunte.

Does Go>Forward look familiar to anybody? It should. Go>Forward Media owns FireEMSBlogs.com which hosts this rag of a blog and many other of your favorite fire and EMS blog sites. Go>Forward Media also owns Fire-Rescue Magazine, JEMS Magazine and Law Officer magazine. The company saw an opportunity and a different direction to go with fire training in a conference setting. So the company branched out and created Go>Forward Fire and Leadership Training to try and bring a new educational experience to students. Now, for all you traditionalists, don't get your undies in a bunch. They ain't trying to butt in on FDIC or any of the other major conferences. What they are trying to do is bring more affordable, local and intimate (not that kind of intimate, chowderheads) training to us while focusing on student-instructor relationships. That means that not only will you be able to take a class from some of the finest instructors in the world like, Alan Brunacini, Tim Sendelbach, Dennis Rubin and Brotherhood Instructors, but you will also get to talk to and network with them as well. You see, not only has Go>Forward made the conferences local, more affordable and smaller but they have built-in time after lectures and hands-on classes to meet and talk to the instructors. Giving both students and instructors an opportunity to talk and learn from each other and to hopefully build a relationship that lasts past the conference. Check out Go>Forward's announcement page here to check out information on the conferences. 

 

I know it's a short post today but I'm tachnically on vacation, so get over it. But I did want to make you aware of these new opportunities so that you have some time to check them out and get registered. For those of us in the Atlantic states area check out the Liberty Regional Fire & Leadership Training Conference in KoP, PA. page and get registered. For you Midwesterners check out the Gateway Midwest Fire & Leadership Training Conference in St. Charles, MO. and get registered. Lets decrease those "You can teach a monkey…" moments, shall we?

Now getjerbutts of 'da tailboard and go train!

~TK

Posted by on July 31, 2011 • Filed under: administration-leadership, Archive, command-leadership, fire-rescue-topics, firefighting-operations, Leadership, Tradition, Pride, Ownership, Training, training-development, training-fire-rescue-topics • Tagged: , , , , , , , , , ,

The Best Damn Department In The Fire Service

3 comments

 

Everybody got they're cup of regulah? Everyone comfortable? Good.

So I'm sitting on the tailboard the other shift with the rest of my crew and we're talking about general happenings and scuttlebutt around the department. Soon the conversation turns to the general problem-solving and saving of the planet. Of course, me bein' me, I offer my 2 cents on a couple topics. One of the guys who's been around long enough to be able to say something like this says, "Oh, speakin' from your many yeahs experience as Chief, Kenny?" So I kindly replied, "No ya' chowdahead. Speakin' from my many years experience as a fireman." That got a laugh, even from my buddy who was trying to bust my stones. But I did mean it the way I spoke to it.

Sometimes, and it seems with increasing frequency in the last many years, the people who are being tapped to run our jobs didn't spend a whole lotta time learning the job before they get the big bump. Sometimes this is the result of the department's own rules and regs that allow a junior member, say someone just off probation or with only a couple years in, to challenge a promotional exam. Other times it's as a result of the "skyrocket" or "golden child" who seems to garner the favor of the powers that be and finds the path to success is a little easier than it is for other candidates. It's no secret we have better educated firefighters on the job today. Many of the younger jakes are coming on with Associates, Bachelor's and sometimes even Master's degrees. All this studying, writing and memorization helps them when it comes to a promotional test. Now I'm not bashing education, I'm all for it. But the books have gotta be balanced with some experience as well.

There's that saying in the fire service that, "I may have to respect his rank but I don't have to respect him." I've been hearing that one whipped out more and more often lately. A while ago we had a bit of a problem child with us. Many of us tried counseling him individually on separate occasions but it didn't really help. Finally, we decided it was time for an intervention. We called that show on A&E, you know, the one you want to watch to feel better about your own life, the one that does the interventions with all the skeeves and drunks? But they weren't interested. Don't judge, even a jake can get something outta watching it. Anyway, being a senior member I went to the Lieutenant and talked to him about it to see how he wanted it handled. He told me to handle it on our level and then if it didn't get better he'd be the hammer. So the entire shift sat down with this kid and had a chat. We didn't jump him, didn't humiliate him but examples were certainly brought out regarding his less than exceptional performance and how it needed to change. One of the comments he made during the chat still rings in my ears. He said, "What's with you guys? Am I gonna have to fight a fire or make a grab or something before you guys respect me?!" We sat there stunned. I looked at another guy who had more time on than me and he just shook his head, grabbed his cup and left the table. A couple other guys scoffed and just shook their heads. I simply said, "That might help. But you better pray you do it right instead of the way you have been doing it." Fast forward a few years. This particular individual transferred out of our house and went somewhere slower, a little more remote from other houses and we didn't hear much from or about him. Until the recent Lufts list came out. There he was, just about at the top and certainly within reach of that first bugle. Now go back and read the first line of this paragraph again.

I took a trip not long ago to see some family. While we were in town there was the usual family dinners with plenty of time to have some beers and chat. One of my cousins is a firefighter in the area so we were catching up and swapping stories. My cousin's department is small. A couple stations, about 30 guys on three shifts, a couple thousand runs a year fire and EMS. He then began to tell me about the new chief that was recently promoted. This particular person spent three years as a firefighter on my cousin's job. Three frickin' years. He then got promoted to Captain, and then two years later was tapped as the Chief-of-Department. You could almost see the steam coming out of my cousin's ears as he relayed the story. But it wasn't the anger of jealousy or of being slighted or passed over, it was the anger of seeing an injustice taking place and being powerless to do anything about it. You see, this guy has a Bachelor's in some sort of Business Management and a Master's in some sort of Emergency Management or something. Again, please don't misunderstand me, I think the education this guy has is great. But where's the experience to draw from? Where's the foundation in tactics and strategy? Where's the background in what works in theory and what works at 2 A.M. in the street? Evidently the politicos in my cousin's City Hall just want someone to try and balance the budget or steer the ship through the tumultuous economic downturn times or something. So now this guys got one bugle for every year experience he has. Again, see pre-ceeding paragraph's first line.

Even though I'm not promoted I believe in readying yourself as much as possible beforehand, not after you've got the bump. So I read. And I study. And I talk to people. And I train. And I take classes I don't have to. All in an effort that someday, when the devil himself is playing hockey on his own personal rink, I get the bump I'll hopefully be ready. One of the books I've read that influenced me the most has nothing to do with the fire service at all. It was written by the now retired Captain of a guided missile destroyer in the United States Navy. His name is Captain D. Michael Abrashoff and his (first) book is titled, It's Your Ship; Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy.  On it's initial shine the title might seem pretty conceited. But what Captain Abrashoff was able to do while in command of his ship was nothing short of amazing. The Navy ranks it's ships in each operational fleet (Atlantic and Pacific) and then throughout the entire Navy. These rankings are based off of performance drills, evaluations etc. When Captain Abrashoff took over the U.S.S. Benfold she was just about dead last in the entire Navy. When he left for a different command a mere two years later Benfold was first. The book is a great read for nothing else than just the story, but it also gives some great leadership advice. The funny thing is that this advice isn't earth-shattering or previously undiscovered. It is simple, to the point and highly effective. One of the best, and a personal favorite, is this gem, "I began with the idea that there is always a better way to do things, and that, contrary to tradition, the crew's insights might be more profound than even the captain's." Imagine that. The management asking the workers what works and what doesn't instead of implementing changes that they think should work. Huh. 

I don't need to be a Chief, or Captain or Lieutenant. I want to be, it's true. But as long as I'm a lowly blueshirt and can draw upon my education and my experience to influence others and my department I can be happy. I truly believe my department could be The Best Damn Department In The Fire Service, and so could yours. Sometimes we just need to convince our "leaders" of that. Sometimes, they just have to take a step back and realize maybe they don't have all the answers and that us peeons might just have some worthwhile input. We need some leaders with the courage and personal intestinal fortitude to realize they may not have all the answers or experience and to reach out to the lower ranks. Then, after receiving that input,  to stand up and actually believe that the advice is sound and institute those ideas that work. 

Oh well. Maybe when I'm chief, eh? Now getjerbutts off 'da tailboard and go do somethin'. Like train.

~TK

Posted by on April 23, 2011 • Filed under: administration-leadership, Archive, General Rants, Leadership