A New Way of Training: Changing How We Think

Just about two weeks ago, I had the great opportunity to discuss fire service training on the Fire Engineering radio show hosted by Chief Dennis Rubin along with Chiefs P.J. Norwood, Jonathan Riffe, and Lieutenant Frank Ricci.  The questions and discussions were thought provoking.  For myself, I tried to concentrate my comments beyond the day to day tactical training areas which, while critically important, were covered exceptionally well by my fellow participants.  Instead, I tried to focus on an area I see as under discussed—advanced education.   

It’s not sexy and certainly not as “fun” as live fire evolutions, firefighter survival, or even the bread and butter practice of advancing lines or throwing ladders.  What it is, though, is critical for the “business” of the fire service.   

The importance of lifelong learning cannot be over emphasized.  The next generation of fire service leaders will be confronted with a spectrum of problems only some of which we can imagine.  Others will reveal themselves over time.  Managing the “all hazards” response agency that fire departments have become in a continuing era of increasing demands and highly pressured financial resources will need a new problem solving paradigm.  This won’t come about by simply repeating what we’ve done in the past, as good as it may have been.  It will require a new generation of strategic multi-dimensional thinkers.  The military has understood this for decades, sending officers for advanced degrees in a multitude of disciplines at “civilian” universities.   

I’ve argued before, college level classes, particularly in the humanities, won’t teach you to handle a nozzle better, but if you let them, they will teach you to think, to examine and solve problems differently.  Problem solving, with the challenges of the future, will be a skill of paramount importance.  

A thought process which looks at problems from a historical perspective, from one of engineering and mathematics, business and statistics, and puts all these pieces together, will help bring new and innovative solutions to the forefront.  The catch phrase “thinking outside the box” is easy to say, but much harder to do.  Non fire related classes teach some of these alternative problem solving methods, how to look at issues from other directions and perspectives—essentially a new and different way to think.   

The next generation of leaders will need not only to be great firefighters and command officers; they will need to be outstanding writers, politicians, accountants, business managers, and strategic planners. 

Ernest Hemingway, Poetry, and Firefighting: Yes They Do Go Together

One skill that all firefighters have in abundance is the ability to complain.  That’s not a criticism, but simply a statement of fact.  Rather than go down that road, at least right now, I want to talk about one heartening thing I see in the fire service today;  a group of younger firefighters who are smart, aggressive, respectful of tradition, but progressive in outlook.  I wish this group was bigger than it is, but there is room for growth. 

These troops make up what I hope will become the leadership; the movers-and-shakers of the next generation.  They will have tremendous challenges to address, some of which only time will reveal. 

I want to offer some advice to this group, and most of it has nothing to do with the day to day application of wet stuff on red stuff. 

Let’s start with one of the basics, education; you need to get it.  Yes, you’re busy—some of you have a spouse and young kids.  They definitely need to come first, but it can be done, even if it is one course at a time.  Can’t see the end of the rainbow of a bachelor’s degree because of the number of credits?  Start with an Associates.  Get that done and you’re halfway home.  The question I hear is why? “I can take the fire science or emergency planning classes that interest me.  I don’t need the History, English, Science and other stupid stuff like that for this job.  I didn’t like that crap in high school.  Why should I take it now just to get a piece of paper? “

There are a couple of reasons.  The first, and probably less important is perception.  The more bugles on your collar, the more individuals with degrees you will be dealing with on a regular basis.  While not necessarily right, some of those people make snap judgments based on educational back ground.  If you don’t have one, you automatically start at a disadvantage with these folks.

“Well screw them; I’m just as smart as they are.”  Probably so, and maybe smarter—especially in your discipline, but perception is reality. 

The second and most important reason is that these “crap” courses teach you to think.  Taught correctly, history isn’t about memorizing dates and places.  It’s about looking at the past and trying to figure out what happened and why.  What were the variables that influenced an event?  How did people react?  Has the interpretation of something changed over time?  Any of this sound familiar? 

Science is a bit easier to understand.  Chemistry knowledge is useful for hazardous materials and we use physics, like it or not, on many rescue applications.  It takes math skills to do both the above. 

English; oh no, not that.  “I don’t want to waste my time sitting around reading poems or Ernest Hemingway.”  It isn’t about reading, it’s about writing.  But to learn how to write well, you need to read, and the more the better.  Virtually every successful writer will tell you reading is one of the most important things they did (and continue to do) which aids their writing.  The higher you go, the more important your writing skills will become.  If you don’t know the difference between there, their, and they’re, and I see this all the time; no one is going to take you seriously. 

The longer you are out of school, the more difficult it can be to motivate yourself to start again and to remember (or develop) your study skills.  It really can be a great experience.  I went back to school for a Masters degree in my late 40s, and found it challenging…and one of the most enjoyable educational endeavors I ever undertook.  Believe it or not; learning and education should and can be a life long process.

On another topic, it may sound obvious, but you need to develop mentors.  There is a tremendous institutional memory available and ripe for the picking in the old breed firefighters.  This is, however, a perishable commodity.  Use it while it is still on the shelves.  You don’t have to agree with everything they tell you, but it costs nothing to listen.  It is amazing how much can be learned around the kitchen table. 

Develop relationships with ranking officers.  I don’t mean brown-nosing or ass kissing, but a true mutual respect two way street type deal.   Let them know you’re looking to learn, and interesting projects and assignments may come your way. 

Hemingway was an old guy.  Make him one of your mentors.  Follow even some of these suggestions, and the sky is the limit.