Food for Thought - No Limits

We have to go for what we think we're fully capable of, not limit ourselves by what we've been in the past. ~ Vivek Paul

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Unlocking the Hidden World

Perception plays a vital role in a fire leader's decision-making process. How well perception matches reality is called Situation Awareness. How much do we really see? How closely do we dissect a situation before making a decision? Are we open to what is or could be? How much do we NOT know or see about the world around us?

Louie Schwarzberg takes TED Talk viewers to where technology, art, and science intersect in order to see a hidden world. What we don't see can have a profound impact upon what could be.



Leadership is about innovation. As a fire leader, being able to see beyond what is apparent and having the courage to go beyond comfort zones opens our organizations to possibilities we never thought possible.

Wildland Fire Leadership Challenge

Discuss the following questions with your team:

• What are you doing within your organization to innovate? 
• How do you ensure that perceptions meet reality?
• Do you challenge the status quo?
• What mechanism do you have to expose the hidden elements within your decision-making process?

Food for Thought - Do the Right Thing

In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing.

–Theodore Roosevelt

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The Mad Scientist

(Photo credit: Jupiter Images/ThinkStock)

The Mad Scientist

by Jay Stalnacker

I sat looking at the back side of Pikes Peak as I was suppose to be working on an entry in my journal for a leadership course I was attending. The setting was beautiful; we were situated in a outdoor conference facility in the Rocky Mountains.

Food for Thought - Doing the Right Things

Efficiency is doing things right; effectiveness is doing the right things. ~ Peter Drucker

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Does Your Workplace Value Emotional Intelligence?

"Emotional intelligence (EI) is the ability to monitor one's own and other people's emotions, to discriminate between different emotions and label them appropriately, and to use emotional information to guide thinking and behavior." ~ Andrew Coleman, A Dictionary of Psychology

Daniel Goleman is one of the foremost authorities on emotional intelligence. In this video, Goleman shares his thoughts from his book Working with Emotional Intelligence.

The Five Components of Emotional Intelligence at Work (taken from What Makes a Leader)

1. Self-awareness - the ability to recognize and understand your moods, emotions, and dries, as well as their effect on others
2. Self-regulation - the ability to control or redirect disrutive impulses and moods; the propensity to suspend judgment - to think before acting.
3. Motivation - a passion to work for reasons that go beyond money or status; a propensity to pursue goals with energy and persistence
4. Empathy - the ability to understand the emotional makeup of other people; skill in treating people according to their emotional reactions
5. Social Skill - proficiency in managing relationships and building networks; an ability to find ocmmon ground and build rapport

Video Highlights

• Emotional intelligence may be about being nice, but it may also be about being blunt.
• Emotional intelligence is rooted in the brain.
• Emotional intelligence tends to be learned and can be improved over time. Person must want to improve.
• The leaders sets the tone for the whole organization.
• IQ has been going up. EQ has been going down.
• Companies are looking for individuals with EQ.

Additional Reference(s)

• What Makes a Leader, Daniel Goleman, HBR, January 2004
• "How Can We Improve Our Emotional Intelligence," Daniel Goleman, Big Think

Food for Thought - Do More

Always do more than is required of you. ~ George Patton

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Building Resiliency

More than 40 employees with the Yukon Wildland Fire Management Program, in Canada’s far north, participated in the 2014 Resilient Team Campaign.

BUILDING RESILIENCY

By George Maratos
Whitehorse, Yukon Canada
September 16, 2014

Mike Etches addresses the room enthusiastically. It is 8:30 am and the group of about 40 have gathered at a facility known as “Hangar D.” Located in Whitehorse, Yukon, in Canada’s far north, the warehouse-like space is typically used as the home base for a contingent of Southern Lakes wildland firefighters. Today, however, it is the meeting ground for employees of Yukon’s Wildland Fire Management Program. They have gathered for their annual fall meetings and this year Etches, who is the program’s Director, has decided to incorporate the 2014 Resilient Team Campaign into the meetings.

“I want our organization to be the best community protection agency in Canada,” says Etches, during his opening remarks to kick off the two-day workshop. “In order to do that we need to learn to be resilient and to do that effectively we need to recognize that in order to move forward you need to do so as a team.”

Etches’ comments are met with some trepidation. It may be part lack of coffee and part the prospect of knowing that two full days of team building, in a poorly lit building, lie ahead. Etches’ remarks are followed by a few more speeches from senior government officials and then the staff break off into smaller working groups. Here they discuss topics ranging from healthy conflict and trust to commitment and enhancing leadership skills.

10:15 am – a shift in mood

By the end of the first working group session the early morning trepidation has been replaced by excitement and optimism. Staff from across the large territory, who often don’t get the chance to regularly meet face to face, have shared ideas and thoughts on what is being done well within the organization and where improvements can be made and, although early, already it’s apparent the campaign’s impact is taking hold as staff are genuinely engaged and healthy, open conversation is taking place.

The remainder of the day one agenda is made up of more breakout sessions and discussions on topics specific to Yukon Wildland Fire Management’s 2014 season. It concludes with a BBQ dinner and despite the already long day many have stuck around to mingle and eat with colleagues.

Staff with Yukon Wildland Fire Management share
ideas via small working groups.

Employee Scott Giroux address the topics of training and safety.

By the campaign’s two-day conclusion the overwhelming review from staff is positive. The prospect of sharing ideas and providing feedback face to face has been met with enthusiasm, something Etches’ had hoped for when he first came across the 2014 Resilient Team Campaign.

“I felt the language in the campaign would speak to them (staff) and connect with them much more quickly,” said Etches. “It was my hope that it would address what they were feeling and thinking and the early account is that it did that in many ways.”

And while it’s too early to really tell how the campaign’s impact will be felt by the Yukon Wildland Fire Management Program the groundwork and foundation for building leadership and working towards becoming the best community protection agency in Canada is now in place.

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Thank you to Yukon Wildland Fire Management for sharing their campaign story with us. We are honored that the campaign can benefit our wildland fire partners around the world.

Grant West Prescribed Fire – Hazard Tree Fatality

Grant West Prescribed Fire – Hazard Tree Fatality
October 2, 2004 (10-year anniversary)
#honorthroughlearning

Incident Summary: 
October 2nd 2004, a prescribed fire is planned in the Grant Grove Sub District of Kings Canyon National Park. This park has long been known for its active prescribed fire program and since 1981, has been home to the Arrowhead Hotshots. The unit being burned this day has been burned several times before. The predominant tree in this unit is White Fir, a high-risk species, which had suffered a considerable die-off due to a Tussock Moth infestation. The unit has been prepped and hose-lays installed. Numerous snags along the line have been evaluated for firefighter safety and holding concerns. Some hazard trees were cut down or lined. One white fir snag about 146 feet tall and 12 feet inside the line was considered sound by experienced firefighters and is left standing. Torching brush and short trees during the test burn send embers into the top of the snag and within minutes smoke and then flames are observed. The snag has become a hazard and a holding concern and it is decided that it needs to be felled. Class C-fallers are called over to size-up the tree; Daniel Holmes, an Arrowhead Hotshot, is the swamper. Because of its lean, it is decided to drop it across the line and to move the hose-lay so that it can be suppressed as a spot fire. Holmes and another faller pass under the snag on the fireline as they walk over to assist in moving the hose-lay so that they can then cut the tree. Several firefighters see the top of the snag fall and yell. They start to run but the falling tree top hits Holmes on the head and he is knocked out. He never regains consciousness.

To that date, Daniel Holmes would be the 20th firefighter killed by a snag since 1960.

Lessons Learned Discussion Points:
The morning began with a safety briefing and most of the firefighters confirm that snag hazards were emphasized several times.

• If you were giving your crew a briefing about hazard trees in your area, what will your emphasis points be? 

You and your crew are sizing up hazard trees in preparation for a prescribed burn in your area.

• What are the common high-risk species of trees there? 
• Discuss how you will determine the soundness of the trees. 
• What are the common indicators that they have become unhealthy/unsafe?  

Knowing when the top of this tree would fall is impossible. The top of the snag had only been burning for less than 2 hours. The winds had been light.

• Would you have considered this tree as hazardous as it really was?
• Knowing that the top of the tree might eventually fall, what will you do to be ready for it?

Though there were 3 experienced fallers paying attention to the burning snag during its size-up, once the firefighters transitioned to moving the hose-lay there was not a dedicated lookout assigned for that task.

• How will you and your crew manage the safety of all firefighters when you are in a similar transition situation?
• How can you better expect the unexpected after reading this tragic accident?

Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center website
Hazard Tree Safety website

Food for Thought - Aiming for Greatness

The greatest danger for most of us is not that we aim too high and we miss it, but we aim too low and reach it. –Michelangelo

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