Micro Manager Metric Maniacs

The overwrought alliteration shows my disdain.  They are everywhere, but they use code words to describe themselves.  I’m “detail oriented” they say.  Never will one introduce themselves and say, “hi, I’m a micromanager.”   Their involvement in every aspect of operations is necessary, because no one can live up to their expectations. 

One chief who was an administrative nightmare to work for had many of these characteristics.   I called him a “shotgun manager.”  He never met an idea he didn’t like, so there were a hundred projects all in progress at the same time.  Because of this and the necessity for his involvement in everything—he couldn’t delegate to save his life—that meant that nothing ever was completed.  Since everything was a priority, nothing was.  Luckily, he wasn’t like this on the fire ground (fire ground micromanagers are even more scary) , and to this chief’s credit, he eventually evolved, changed, and improved, but that is the exception with this type of manager, not the rule. 

The data collectors are worse.  They never met a metric or measurement they didn’t like.  Just because an activity is quantifiable doesn’t mean it should be.  The argument is that the “workers” only do well what is checked—so these guys check everything.  When we measure everything, the same shotgun result occurs.  Since everything is a priority, nothing really is. 

My contention has long been there are typically four or five big important things that make an organization successful.  Measure and take good care of those, and everything else—the details—will take care of themselves.  I never thought it was rocket science, but maybe it is.  Einstein said “not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.” 

An Open Letter to a New Fire Officer

You are about to take that first important jump in rank.  It might get you a different color helmet.  It definitely will change other things. 

You’re a good firefighter, but you’re young and will be moving up over more experienced firefighters, some of which are your friends.  There are mixed emotions.  How you respond to this is a test in your capacity for greater responsibility.  Not everyone wants promotion, and reaching a level of satisfaction is not a bad thing.  Some of your friends are content at their present level and job. 

 The important and difficult part of managing your buddies is perspective and balance.  You can’t let them get away with murder on the one hand, but a domineering heavy hand is no good on the other.  Finding the balance point is easier said than done, and will take time, trial, and error.  Anyone who tells you they know exactly where that is, well, they’re lying to you.  The good guys under you will want you to succeed.  Those that don’t, and they are out there, will be easily identified.  Even though some will attempt to undermine your authority, treat them fairly.  That doesn’t mean you let them succeed with their obstructionism, but by not lowering yourself to their level, others will notice. 

  Lead by example, both in the station and on the fire ground.  Show, don’t tell.  A good officer doesn’t have to talk a lot to earn respect and get others to follow.  Treat the firefighters under you the way you wanted officers to treat you. 

At every level, somebody moves up, and others do not; it is how it is.  By now you’ve seen good, bad, and great officers.  Take the characteristics of those you like and respect, and emulate them.  As importantly, avoid those of the officers you don’t. 

Be accepting of change, but not unthinkingly.  All change isn’t bad, but it isn’t all good either.  The rookies will frustrate you at times.  Some may not progress as quickly as you think they should.  Try to learn patience.  Everyone learns in different ways and rates.  Mentoring is a long game, and sometimes goes into overtime. 

 You know already that the right people don’t always get the promotions, and so does everyone else.  Putting on a new helmet doesn’t make you an officer.  Your actions and attitude do that. 

You Might Be A Redneck Firefighter if....

Fire is fire regardless of where you work, and fire departments are full of folks with unusual personalities.  My experiences in fighting fire in a rural area have given me an appreciation for the unique characteristics of the country.  So, with that in mind, you might be a redneck firefighter if…….

The soda machine in the station is actually filled with Rolling Rock.

There is a sign-out sheet in the station to show who borrowed the engine battery for their tractor.

The tanker port-a-pond doubles as the community pool during the summer. 

The dirt in front of the station looks like black top….from tobacco “juice.” 

The station has the manual from the department's 1958 engine—sold 20 years ago—and the envelope was never opened. 

One of the towns founding families has three roads named after them—all the same. 

Cow versus car is almost as common in the run log book as car versus deer. 

You would need mutual aid from three counties to get a single engine out for a car fire one day a year—the opening of deer season. 

The helmet you wear is older than half your members.

"Old" Guy Stuff

Okay, this doesn’t go back to the horses, but if you experienced many of these (I did all of them), then you might be a “seasoned” firefighter if……

• You rode the back step (and put you gear on while doing it) Only once…..that was scary…and stupid.

• Rode an engine from which you could actually see the driver from the back step.

• Wore ¾ boots inside

• Wore a Scott I with no bell

• Wore “red ball” gloves.

• Know what a Plectron is—and had one—with tubes.

• Remember using the 10-codes.

• Wore a cotton duck coat.

• Remember the introduction of “safety straps” for the back step.

• Taken a 2 ½ inside. Something that should still be done, but isn't much.

• Cut off a pair of leaky ¾ boots for your first set of bunker pants.

Old "Rules" Aren't Necessarily Wrong

Fire Chief’s, like Presidents, are often proudest of what didn’t happen on their watch. That thought reminded me of a few rules my father taught me from day one in the “business” which in the subsequent decades, I have not found reason to question.

The first rule was “there ain’t no water damage if the building burns down.” Put enough water on the fire and it goes out. Try to “save” water, and you end up with a long day.

The second was “there is no such thing as a rekindle.” The fire you didn’t fully extinguish via complete overhaul is not a rekindle, and Class A foam is not a substitute for properly conducting this important component of extinguishment.

Old fashioned? Maybe; but old isn’t necessarily wrong.

Go Lackawanna
May 6, 2012

A story worth telling
Career firefighter participates in Writers Showcase at New Visions
by Rich Howells

Gary R. Ryman’s three-decade career as a firefighter may have given him pride and a wealth of knowledge to pass on to his son, but it also earned him a lot of stories.

The second of three generations of firefighters, the 50-year-old Scott Twp. resident spent over 30 years risking life and limb in several states, including a run as chief of the Scott Twp. Hose Company, and has been employed as a fire protection engineer for over 25 years. Now in the “twilight” of his career as firefighter, Ryman spent about four years chronicling his family’s tales in the “Fire Men: Stories from Three Generations of a Firefighting Family,” released in April 2011.

“I wanted to write down some of the stories, some of my stories and some of the stories from my father, essentially just to capture them. I had no real reason, and I thought maybe it would be something down the road that my kids and maybe their kids would ultimately be interested in. So I kept writing down the individual stories, and when I had a little over 100 pages and a lot more stories yet to tell, it started to dawn on me that maybe this was really just a book trying to get out,” Ryman explained.

“I was exposed to (firefighting) as I was growing up. It was something that I always wanted to do, enjoyed immensely once I was able to get involved with it, and something that I just continued to do ever since.” With a bachelor’s degree in Fire Science from the University of Maryland, he spent his early career in upstate New York learning from his fire chief father, later battled flames in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., and presently mentors his son in the “family business.”

“Every area can have unique challenges. I think, for example, in the area that I was in when I went to school in Maryland, we had a lot more multiple residencies – in other words, garden apartment buildings, townhouses, high-rise apartment buildings, and the like. That can be contrasted with Scott Township, where one of the major issues that we have to deal with is water because of lack of fire hydrants,” Ryman noted.

“Friends of mine who are in the fire service have read it and they liked it because it made them remember their own experiences and their own stories, and it brought back things for them. I’ve had people read it without fire service experience and what they liked about it was essentially being able to learn what we really do and some of the things that we really see that they had no earthly idea about.” 

Despite his accomplishments, he admitted that he didn’t believe his book was going to be published until he wrote his name on the contract after several changes in agents, editors, and publishers, finally publishing with Tribute Books in Archbald.

“There were a lot of stories that aren’t in the book that I wrote. I just tried to pick the ones that I thought would help to paint the overall picture. Obviously, some are hopefully amusing, some are tragic, and some are kind of in between. That was also part of it, trying to get a balance or a mix. It wasn’t designed, obviously, to be a complete humor book, but on the other side of the coin, I don’t think anybody would want to sit down and read a book that was just filled with accident and trauma after accident and trauma,” he recalled about the writing process.

“I think anybody in the fire service that experiences any kind of serious incident, particularly those involving children or neighbors or people they know or anything like that, is affected by it in one way or another. I think that to a certain degree it, and I talked about this in the book a little bit, hardens you to certain things, and on the other side of the coin, it makes you want to avoid certain things. For example, you have to work through these incidents and you have to remain focused on them in order to do the job, but because of doing all this, I guess, I don’t find movies or TV shows where the boy’s dog gets shot entertaining. Sad things like that I just avoid because I’ve seen enough real world tragedy that I really don’t go looking for it on TV for entertainment.”

The finished product, however, has a happy ending. “My son had not that long before (he) turned 18, which meant he was of age to be able to ‘go inside,’ as we put it – go into the building. You don’t know when that first time is ever going to come as far as a real situation, and I didn’t know if I would be around when that happened, as far as being on that particular incident with him,” he continued.

“So when it turned out that I was and actually got to be on the line with him his first time inside, that was, to me, almost like a fairytale way of being able to end the book. But it really did happen!” While he has done several signings, the fourth free Writers Showcase at New Visions Studio and Gallery on Saturday, May 12 will mark the first time that the author will read excerpts from his book aloud to a live audience, and Ryman continues to tread on “entirely different” territory as he pursues a master’s degree in American History, researches his thesis, and begins work on a fiction novel about his soon-to-be former profession.

 “I think it’ll be fun. I hope it gets a good reaction,” Ryman said of the reading.

 “All I can really bring is just my stories, and I hope that people find them interesting.”

My Path to Publication

Just a Girl
April 27, 2012

My Path to Publication
hosted by Heidi Ruby Miller

The book Fire Men started as nothing more than wanting to record some of the experiences that my father and I had in the fire service and which my son Michael was starting to have. Writing of one incident often brought back memories of others and the list of individual stories of calls grew. After I had a hundred plus pages, it became clear that there was more than a pile of vignettes—there was a book there trying to get out. The writing was cathartic as well. It made me smile and laugh and took me back to less pleasant experiences—some still painful to recall even with the passage of time.

Eventually, a so-called first draft was complete and some friends encouraged me to try to obtain an agent and the querying process began. Lightning struck with surprising quickness and a young agent from a large New York City firm agreed to work with me. I know now this was an incredible stroke of luck as the manuscript wasn’t remotely ready. She provided great feedback and suggestions as I worked my way through a second draft. This revision much improved the book and she offered more suggestions to help fine tune the work.

The manuscript was one final pass from the point at which she was planning to send it to some editors she believed would be interested when calamity, at least for me, struck hard. My agent accepted a position as an editor at a big six house, which orphaned me. Yes, she passed the manuscript to another agent at her firm, but he wasn’t interested, and so two years after the start, the query roller coaster began running again. This time I decided to widen my view and include some of the fine small publishers in the business as well.

After a period of ups and downs with manuscript requests and rejections, a yes came in the door from a wonderful publisher, Nicole Langan of Tribute Books (www.tribute-books.com). Her assistance and guidance through the final edits was invaluable. The cover and artwork she and her staff designed was beyond my wildest expectations. At the release and continuing now, she has been a great cheerleader; helping to push the book in conventional and unconventional ways. With a huge social media presence, she has been a tremendous teacher in how to use this medium.

Doing events and book signings has resulted in new friends and opportunities to re-connect with old ones. As much fun as the whole experience has been, I will never forget holding that first printed copy in my hand.

--Gary Ryman
April 2012

Gary Ryman is the middle of three generations of firefighters or the center of the Oreo. His book Fire Men: Stories from Three Generations of a Firefighting Family is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.com in paperback as well as in all eBook formats. Visit www.fire-men-book for more information.


Buy Fire Men online at these links:

- http://www.amazon.com/Fire-Men-Stories-Generations-Firefighting/dp/0982256590/ref=tmm_pap_title_0

- http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fire-men-gary-r-ryman/1100719030?ean=9780982256596&itm=1&usri=gary+ryman