IGNITE: Followership

He who cannot be a good follower cannot be a good leader. – Aristotle

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Building Teamwork at Rocky Mountain Engine Academy

A BLM engine waits for a military helicopter to land before navigating the Evasive Driving Course. 

In the dynamic and ever-changing fire community, it's good for disparate units to find time to train together with common purpose. The annual Rocky Mountain Engine Academy provides that time. The academy includes students and instructors from BLM and U.S. Forest Service units across Colorado, Wyoming, and South Dakota.

"It's great to see so many students coming together for a common purpose before fire season," said Kyle Cowan, BLM Wyoming State Fire Management Officer. "These are the people who will be out fighting wildfires all summer and the more training we can do now, the better success we will have in the future."

At the Camp Guernsey Joint Training Center in Wyoming, 32 students recently worked with interagency partners to learn about fire engine operations. Skills taught included driving, pump operations, and working together as a unit so that when fires happen, everyone is ready. The time spent planning and developing the academy is just as valuable as interagency partnership and collaboration.

Students learn about air brakes in the classroom. 

"The academy really is a chance to work together across the board with people we do not see each day, but who we will depend upon when fire season arrives," said Cowan. "That partnership and learning taking place at the academy is building relationships that will benefit us all in the long-term."

Students get hands-on training with pumping and hydraulics.

Story by Carmen Thomason

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Reprinted from BLM Daily, August 10, 2015.

IGNITE: Reforming Self

The trouble is that everyone talks about reforming others, and no one thinks about reforming himself.  – Peter Alcantara

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Do Staff Rides Help Move the Forest Service Towards Its Goal of Becoming a Learning Organization?

On today's blog we share U.S. Forest Service Fuels Specialist Joe Harris' master degree thesis on staff rides and whether or not they help the Forest Service in its goal to be a learning organization.

We encourage students of fire and leadership to review the research and conclusions. Are we learning from our experiences? Can we do better?

Click here to download the paper or click the link above.

The Abstract

The Forest Service has declared its intention of becoming a learning organization. As a means to that end, the Forest Service has borrowed and adapted the staff ride concept from the military. This paper describes the staff ride product and compares it to what scientific research tells us about the nature of learning. Focus group sessions were conducted to ascertain the strengths and weaknesses of staff rides. 

This research is intended to provide a scientific and argument basis for the digitalization of the staff ride environment for a particular organization. As such this thesis is a much a design document as it is a piece of empirical research. Designing "into the future" especially for the Forest Service's requirement, requires designing for an organization whose learning and organizations needs are quite broad and sometimes contradictory. Further sorting out of real world teaching events like the staff ride that should be transferred to digital environment at this point in time rests more on intuition than science.

The Author's Background

Joe Harris began his career with the U.S. Forest Service in 1997 on the Dixie National Forest as a timber marker. In 1998, he became a member of an Initial Attack Squad. From 1999 -2001, he worked on a Type 4 engine. After college (May 2002), he took a permanent position as Squad Boss with the Dixie Hotshots. In 2006, he detailed as a Captain (for the renamed Cedar City Hotshots), moving to Captain in 2007.

"To this day I would say that this was the best job I have ever had. But I had started a family and decided that hotshotting kept me away from the little ones too much, so I took a detail as a District FMO on a sister district in 2008. I got the job at the end of the summer."

In 2009, the Mill Flat fire--a resource benefit fire located in the Pine Valley Mountain Wilderness Area that burned four air miles in one burn period and burned into the town of New Harmony, Utah, destroying three residences--would change his career path. In the aftermath of the ensuing investigation, he met Ivan Pupulidy. Together they spoke about the Mill Flat fire, including at the FLA/APA workshop in McClellan, CA. He remains a member of the FLA workshop cadre from time to time.

In 2010, he became a Fuels Specialist where he continued to work with Pupulidy. In 2012, he applied for and was sponsored by the Forest Service to attend Lund University in Sweden, pursuing a master's degree in Human Factors and System Safety.

IGNITE: Leaders Bear the Pain

Leaders don't inflict pain; they bear pain. –Unknown via Max DePree in "Leadership is an Art"

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The "Cow Path"

(Photo credit: Steve Baccon)

Cow Path

One day thru the primeval wood

A calf walked home, as good calves should,

But made a trail all bent askew,

A crooked trail, as all calves do.

Since then three hundred years have fled,

And I infer, the calf is dead;

But still behind he left his trail,

And thereon hangs my mortal tale.

The trail was taken up next day

By a lone dog that passed that way,

And then a wise bell-weather sheep

Sliding into a rut now deep,

Pursued that trail over hill and glade

Thru those old woods a path was made.

And many men wound in and out,

And dodged and turned and bent about,

and uttered words of righteous wrath

Because “twas such a crooked path”

But still they follow-do not laugh-

The first migrations of that calf.

The forest became a lane

That bent and turned and turned again;

This crooked lane became a road

where many a poor horse with his load

Toiled on beneath the burning sun,

And travelled some three miles in one.

The years passed on in swiftness fleet,

The village road became a street,

And this, before the men were aware,

A city’s crowded thoroughfare.

And soon a central street was this

In a renowned metropolis;

And men two centuries and a half

Followed the wanderings of this calf.

Each day a hundred thousand strong

Followed this zigzag calf along;

And over his crooked journey went

The traffic of a continent.

A hundred thousand men were led

By one poor calf, three centuries dead.

For just such reverence is lent

To well established precedent.

A moral lesson this might teach

Were I ordained and called to preach.

For men are prone to go it blind

Along the calf paths of the mind;

And work away from sun to sun

To do what other men have done.

– Sam Walter Foss

Leadership Discussions for the "Cow Path"

1. How did the calf positively and negatively influence others?
2. Can leadership occur without the intent to influence? 
3. What are the pros and cons of following another person's lead without collecting your own situation awareness?
4. How can complacency and group think affect an organization's operations?
5. How does "Cow Path"relate to the 2015 Wildland Fire Leadership Campaign - Followership is Leadership? Was the cow a follower or a leader? Can you lead without a title or authority to do so? What is "conformity bias" and how can it affect you and your team?
6. Does your team or organization operate as "creatures of habit"? Are you hearing statements like "We've always done it this way."? What are you doing to address such comments? Why is it important to address such comments?
7. The term "new normal" is heard across the wildland fire service. Have we changed the way we conduct fire operations, training, and workforce development to compensate for this change?
8. What are you doing personally to avoid the cow paths of life? 
9. What are you doing as a fire leader to ensure that innovation, creativity and effective decision making are built into the fabric of your culture?
10. Self-awareness is the starting point for leadership development. What will you do differently having read "Cow Path"?

(Photo credit: Dynamic Graphics)

"The starting point for leadership development is self-awareness." (p. 59)

For a slightly different look at a similar topic and from more of the leadership perspective of how to lead your team beyond the status quo, read Dan Rockwell's "Cows and New Gates." 

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IGNITE: Good Leadership

The most essential element for success in the wildland fire service is good leadership. – Leading in the Wildland Fire Service, page 1

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The Art of Refusing Risk & Respecting Extreme Fire Behavior

Refusing Assignments from The Smokey Generation on Vimeo.

There is an art to risk assessment. What may seem impossible to one person may seem achievable by another. Effective fire leaders develop the art through experience as students of fire and leadership. We know from our history that human factors are critical to our success or failure. Good fire leaders  employ numerous methods, continually develop situation awareness, and develop their people to provide the critical feedback to keep everyone safe.

Wildland Fire Leadership Challenge - Digging a Little Deeper

• Listen to Charlie Caldwell, former Redding Hotshot Superintendent, speak on refusing assignments.
• Review "How to Properly Refuse Risk" with your crew/team.

How to Properly Refuse Risk
Every individual has the right and obligation to report safety problems and contribute ideas regarding their safety. Supervisors are expected to give these concerns and ideas serious consideration.
When an individual feels an assignment is unsafe they also have the obligation to identify, to the
degree possible, safe alternatives for completing that assignment. Turning down an assignment is
one possible outcome of managing risk.

A “turn down” is a situation where an individual has determined they cannot undertake an assignment as given and they are unable to negotiate an alternative solution.

The turn down of an assignment must be based on an assessment of risks and the ability of the individual or organization to control those risks. Individuals may turn down an assignment as unsafe when:

1. There is a violation of safe work practices.
2. Environmental conditions make the work unsafe.
3. They lack the necessary qualifications or experience.
4. Defective equipment is being used.

The individual directly informs their Supervisor they are turning down the assignment as given.
Use the criteria outline in the Risk Management Process (Firefighting Orders, Watch Out
Situations, etc.) to document the turn down.

The supervisor notifies the Safety Officer immediately upon being informed of the turn down. If there is no Safety Officer, the appropriate Section Chief or the Incident Commander should be notified. This provides accountability for decisions and initiates communication of safety concerns within the
incident organization.

If the supervisor asks another resource to perform the assignment, they are responsible to inform the
new resource that the assignment was turned down and the reasons why it was turned down.

If an unresolved safety hazard exists or an unsafe act was committed, the individual should also
document the turn down by submitting a SAFENET (ground hazard) or SAFECOM (aviation hazard) form in a timely manner. These actions do not stop an operation from being carried out. This protocol is integral to the effective management of risk as it provides timely identification of hazards to the chain of command, raises risk awareness for both leaders and subordinates, and promotes accountability.

[Incident Response Pocket Guide, pp.19-20]

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What is your story? We challenge you to become a part of this amazing  project and share your leadership stories. Bethany Hannah began The Smokey Generation: A Wildland Fire Oral History and Digital Storytelling Project for her master's thesis. All members of the wildland fire service, not just hotshots, can share their stories by following her example. Click here for potential leadership questions. Visit The Smokey Generation website for complete information.

Find Your Courage to Be Great

Making the transition from good to great doesn't require a high-profile CEO, the latest technology, innovative change management, or even a fine-tuned business strategy. At the heart of those rare and truly great organizations is a corporate culture that rigorously hires and promotes disciplined people to think and act in a disciplined manner. In Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…and Others Don’t Jim Collins shares research on why some companies are good and others are great. The principles can be applies to any fire organization. Do you have the courage to move your team from good to great?

Fundamental Principles:

Refer to "Where Are You on Your Journey from Good to Great - Good to Great Diagnostic Tool." 

• Level 5 Leadership
• Cause-centered ambition.
• Fierce resolve to do whatever it takes to make good on that ambition.
• Blend of personal humility and professional will.
• First Who...Then What
• Right people on the bus and in the right seat and the wrong people off the bus.
• "Who” before what.
• Confront the Brutal Facts (Yet Never Lose Faith) -  
• Unwavering faith you can and will prevail.
• Disciplined to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality.
• Hedgehog Concept 
• Deep understanding of 
• What you are deeply passion about
• What can you be the best at and what you cannot
• What drives your economic or resource engine
• Culture of Discipline
• Disciplined people who engage in disciplined thought and who take disciplined action—operating with freedom within a framework of responsibilities.
• Technology Accelerators
• Carefully select technology and use as an accelerator of momentum not a creator of it.
• The Flywheel and the Doom Loop
• Building momentum until a point of breakthrough, and beyond.
• Preserve the Core/Stimulate Progress
• Adherence to core values combined with a willingness to challenge and change everything except those core values.
• Have a purpose.
• Purpose translated into goals to stimulate progress.

Good to Great Resources:

• Jim Collins' website
• "Level 5 Leadership: The Triumph of Himility and Fierce Resolve" by Jim Collins

Wildland Fire Leadership Challenge

• Read Jim Collins' book Good to Great.
• Facilitate a group discussion about what you have learned. A discussion guide is available for download from Jim Collins' website.

IGNITE: Without Trust...

Without trust, there can be no self-confidence, nor confidence in the abilities of others--and no leadership. – Patrick Townsend and Joan Gebhardt

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