When companies or projects get into trouble, we take corrective action, and usually we get things back into alignment. When we can't, and when new problems come up one after the other, we often describe our activities as "firefighting." We think of ourselves as moving from fire to fire, putting out the flames.
Firefighting is a metaphor that's more useful than it first appears. If we study the operations of the professional firefighters, especially wildland firefighters, we can learn some lessons that apply to managing projects or companies.
- Safety first
- Wildland firefighters know that they're doing dangerous work. They're trained in safety, and everyone understands that safety is the first priority.
- Organizational firefighting is career-dangerous. Too often we put our own careers at risk, and expect others to do so, too.
- Asking people to take high-risk responsibilities without regard to their career health is unreasonable. If we want people to step forward when they're needed, and to be effective when they do, we must configure high-risk assignments to benefit the people who accept them. Put career-safety first.
- Fire is natural
- Wildland fire is a natural part of the forest ecosystem. Many plants and animals depend on the effects of fire for their own health and for their very survival.
- Sometimes we think of "organizational fires" as annoying and unexpected — as signs of our failure to anticipate well enough.
- Organizational Wildland firefighters
know that they're doing
dangerous workfires are natural for innovative activity, because innovation is inherently risky. When you plan a project, include reserves for handling organizational fires. Expect the unexpected. - Fire spreads
- Wildland firefighters don't try to extinguish major fires — they control them. They direct the fire into uninhabited areas, or into areas that will cause the fire to burn out.
- When we try to save a project that's in trouble, we expend scarce resources and attention in what might be a futile effort. This puts other projects at risk, and can cause the organizational fire to spread.
- When wisdom and experience suggest early cancellation or liquidation, consider these options seriously. Focus on protecting the parts of the organization that aren't yet on fire, rather than on rescuing doomed ventures.
- Fight fire with hotshot teams
- The US Forest Service uses a network of "Hotshot" teams to fight wildland fire. They're highly trained and dedicated to their jobs.
- Organizations typically rely on operational teams to extinguish their own fires. Except for a few "turnaround" consultants, we generally don't train or hire "organizational fire" specialists.
- If your organization has many fires, designate an elite hotshot team. If fires are rare, use consulting specialists to fight organizational fires. Their experience is a valuable asset.
Effective organizational management requires acknowledging the reality and importance of organization fire. To pretend that organizational fire doesn't exist, or that it can be completely eliminated, is to provide fuel for the next fire. Top Next Issue
Are your projects always (or almost always) late and over budget? Are your project teams plagued by turnover, burnout, and high defect rates? Turn your culture around. Read 52 Tips for Leaders of Project-Oriented Organizations, filled with tips and techniques for organizational leaders. Order Now!
For more on organizational firefighting, see "Organizational Firefighting."
Or visit the US Public Broadcasting Web page about the Nova program Fire Wars, a documentary about a team of wildland firefighters called the Arrowhead Hotshots, filmed as they fought fires during the then-most-intense-to-date fire season of 2000. Order from Amazon.com.
Reader Comments
- Dwain Wilder
- Today's newsletter is inspired and inspiring! I wish I'd had that advice while I was on my last engagement in Software Configuration Management at Eastman Kodak.
- At one point my manager was complaining to me about being dinged by his manager so unfairly while his team (us) was doing the only productive work in fighting a fire. I told him, quite spontaneously, "This project is a place where firefighters are accused of arson because they're the closest to the fire." It really hit him, and he said he'd like to use that line on his boss! I think it's often true in projects in crisis.
Your comments are welcome
Would you like to see your comments posted here? rbrendPtoGuFOkTSMQOzxner@ChacEgGqaylUnkmwIkkwoCanyon.comSend me your comments by email, or by Web form.
About Point Lookout
Thank you for reading this article. I hope you enjoyed it and found it useful, and that you'll consider recommending it to a friend.
This article in its entirety was written by a human being. No machine intelligence was involved in any way.
Point Lookout is a free weekly email newsletter. Browse the archive of past issues. Subscribe for free.
Support Point Lookout by joining the Friends of Point Lookout, as an individual or as an organization.
Do you face a complex interpersonal situation? Send it in, anonymously if you like, and I'll give you my two cents.
Related articles
More articles on Personal, Team, and Organizational Effectiveness:
- Be With the Real
- When the stream of unimportant events and concerns reaches a high enough tempo, we can become so transfixed
that we lose awareness of the real and the important. Here are some suggestions for being with the Real.
- Managing Hindsight Bias Risk
- Performance appraisal practices and project retrospectives both rely on evaluating performance after
outcomes are known. Unfortunately, a well-known bias — hindsight bias — can limit the effectiveness
of many organizational processes, including both performance appraisal and project retrospectives.
- Nine Brainstorming Demotivators: II
- Brainstorming sessions produce output of notoriously variable quality, but understanding what compromises
quality can help elevate it. Here's Part II of a set of nine phenomena that can limit the quality of
contributions to brainstorming sessions.
- Way Too Much to Do
- You're good at your job — when you have enough time to do it. The problem is that so much comes
your way that you can't possibly attend to it all. Some things inevitably are missed or get short shrift.
If you don't change something soon, trouble is sure to arrive.
- Cooperations That Need to Be Collaborations
- Modern products and services are so complex that many people cooperate and collaborate to produce them.
When people are cooperating but the work actually requires collaborating, risks arise that can threaten
the success of the effort.
See also Personal, Team, and Organizational Effectiveness for more related articles.
Forthcoming issues of Point Lookout
- Coming May 15: Should I Write or Should I Call?
- After we recognize the need to contact a colleague or colleagues to work out a way to move forward, we next must decide how to make contact. Phone? Videoconference? Text message? There are some simple criteria that can help with such decisions. Available here and by RSS on May 15.
- And on May 22: Rescheduling Collaborative Work
- Rescheduling is what we do when the schedule we have now is so desperately unachievable that we must let go of it because when we look at it we can no longer decide whether to laugh or cry. The fear is that the new schedule might come to the same end. Available here and by RSS on May 22.
Coaching services
I offer email and telephone coaching at both corporate and individual rates. Contact Rick for details at rbrendPtoGuFOkTSMQOzxner@ChacEgGqaylUnkmwIkkwoCanyon.com or (650) 787-6475, or toll-free in the continental US at (866) 378-5470.
Get the ebook!
Past issues of Point Lookout are available in six ebooks:
- Get 2001-2 in Geese Don't Land on Twigs (PDF, )
- Get 2003-4 in Why Dogs Wag (PDF, )
- Get 2005-6 in Loopy Things We Do (PDF, )
- Get 2007-8 in Things We Believe That Maybe Aren't So True (PDF, )
- Get 2009-10 in The Questions Not Asked (PDF, )
- Get all of the first twelve years (2001-2012) in The Collected Issues of Point Lookout (PDF, )
Are you a writer, editor or publisher on deadline? Are you looking for an article that will get people talking and get compliments flying your way? You can have 500-1000 words in your inbox in one hour. License any article from this Web site. More info
Follow Rick
Recommend this issue to a friend
Send an email message to a friend
rbrendPtoGuFOkTSMQOzxner@ChacEgGqaylUnkmwIkkwoCanyon.comSend a message to Rick
A Tip A Day feed
Point Lookout weekly feed
- Your stuff is brilliant! Thank you!
- You and Scott Adams both secretly work here, right?
- I really enjoy my weekly newsletters. I appreciate the quick read.
- A sort of Dr. Phil for Management!
- …extremely accurate, inspiring and applicable to day-to-day … invaluable.
- More