Quit Living Like A Firefighter

2/16/2008

What's the one organization that never cracks in a crisis, that never complains about "putting out fires"? The fire department! Firefighters are responsible for protecting people's lives and property through fighting fires and rescuing people who are trapped inside fires, injured by fires or through other accidents. Although Firefighters perform many of their duties in an independent manner, working as a team is a vital and necessary part of being a firefighter. Firefighters are constantly interrupted from doing their work. When the alarm goes off, everything gets interrupted - and most of the interruptions are false alarms. Of course, firefighters don't complain about this reality - which is the reality of life in most organizations. They create methodical procedures to deal with it, and they implement those procedures with integrity. That's a good lesson. Your ability to deal with surprise elegantly, or to innovate in surprising ways, is the ultimate source of personal advantage. But you can't turn on a dime if you're always fumbling around. ] Get systematic and prepare yourself for life's fires.