Assess Your Engagement

As a student of fire and leadership (and beyond), you have undoubtedly encountered the decision-making model/cycle. We use it to assess a situation with logical and critical decision making. Here is what we present in Leading in the Wildland Fire Service.

We all know this is a scientific way to make decisions, but how many of us really take the time to implement the process? My guess is relatively few. We tend to shoot from the hip and lean on our gut,  experience (those slides we have filed away in our brain), and biases.

I came across the TEDxCalgary video "Decision Making Deconstructed - Understanding the Role of Bias" by Stephen Carter. 

Carter suggests we make decisions related to our level of engagement. If we are less engaged or unengaged, our biases create the outcomes. Following (not before) the decision, we rationalize our action(s).

The wildland fire service is heavy of the use of the decision-making cycle and after action reviews (AARs). It is through the AAR that we take a critical look at our actions (hopefully less rationalization and more how we can improve). We talk a good talk about making decisions, but are we truly engaging in the decision-making process. Are we engaging those we lead or relying on intuition, experience, and biases? Things change. We change. We can be better. 

Go be better. Engage yourself and those you lead in the process.

Wildland Fire Leadership Challenge - Digging a Little Deeper

• Consider how your biases may be affecting your decision.
• Seek dissenting opinions.
• Address the hard stuff.
• Acknowledge the presence of the Dunning-Kruger Effect. 

How good are you at something? Learn more about the Dunning-Kruger Effect. 

---

Pam McDonald is a writer/editor for BLM Wildland Fire Training and Workforce Development and member of the NWCG Leadership Committee. The expressions are those of the author.