Lighting fires - dousing flames
Most of the time there are no burning buildings, no natural disasters, no kittens stuck in trees. So, what does a Firefighter do with their downtime? They prepare. They train their bodies for strength and endurance, they maintain equipment, they inform the public on fire safety, they continually improve their skills and knowledge, create procedural routines, manage stress, relax, socialize, build team unity and surely many other things.
They do all the mind and body prep work necessary so that if the fire bell rings, they can move with purpose, the team assembled quickly and smoothly, equipment at the ready. Upon entering into an extreme and unpredictable environment, trained habits and routines fire so that they remain cool and collected, efficient and effective as they risk life in order to save life. And we respect them the world over for it.
A key manager quits, a competitor innovates ahead, a large customer is lost, an employee strike is called, the economy struggles. In today's erratic business environment there is a trend towards keeping fires ablaze with each new day bringing with it an emergency for which no one seems prepared. This creates a flurry of action aimed at dousing the flames just as another spot fire rages to life.
Often, workplaces are secretive, stressed, competitive, disjointed and distrustful environments where, in times of uncertainty, the lack of preparation causes further confusion, communication break-down, in-fighting and loss of effectiveness.
In the short-term, motivation drops, job satisfaction falls away, sick leave rises, quality of work slips and the bottom line is affected. In the long-term, these factors lead to --- A key employee quitting, a competitor innovating ahead, a large customer lost, employee strikes and economic struggles. A group energized by fear leads to more experiences to fear.
In many companies, the maintenance of their most important asset, the people, is generally kept to a minimum. Training, skill improvement, stress management, working culture, team atmosphere and individual health are pushed into background processes to save resources. Sometimes it seems, getting training and support is a bonus, implemented as an incentive program to motivate or a reward for good work rather than improved performance,
If a workplace is run like a fire station, development takes the forefront as people are continually trained according to their role plus encouraged to continually self-develop further or in their teams. Improvements, planning and investments are therefore made to minimize and ease the times of uncertainty and take full advantage of opportunities in any climate. A stable atmosphere is created to work, develop, test, play, interact and support - one that develops into something more comparable to a family unit than a business.
And when unpredictability does erupt - fast, focused and unified movements are made, with actions seen risky and fear-filled by the unprepared, are calm and calculated decisions for the trained.
Most in this world do very little prep work.
In a decentralized environment where action and responsibility is on the individual, who's job is it to prepare, train, learn, grow, maintain, practice and build the community? It is difficult to be self-sufficient if always looking to a leader for answers.
Many people like lighting fires here, very few have the skills or will to douse them.
Taraz
[ a Steem original ]
On a deeper level you discover that you are always on your own, or at least decentralized, so it is always better to be prepared, not to mention that the process itself empowers you, right?
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This is the thing with it all I think. People want freedom but turn to authority to save them, which empowers the authority.
In a workplace paying for training, they generally take the approach to train for service to the company betterment and that isn't always in line with personal betterment. I think this has been shifting over time somewhat but still largely remains.
I like working with people, collaborating, and cooperating as it is really the only way to deal with large cases. For example, no one person is going to clean up the environment, it is going to take a very large number who agree. However, one person is capable of doing some part of the process involved and proactivity is the domain of the individual.
Yeah, I think that you need to be somehow lucky to align your needs with your employer's. I have spent quite some time being employed or as a contractor and even though they take care of you well, you are still spending your time building someone else's dream. You see, this is not about money. You can be paid in gold but it still won't change the fact, the bitterness on your tongue. But dunno, perhaps and probably just me, others don't have issues selling their time easier :-)
The problem is, when I do something, I do it 100%, and then really, money is not enough to pay for the energy spent on the matter.
And yeah, that is the everlasting clash. You cannot be free without responsibility. You can only be truly free when you are totally responsible for your decisions and life. Scary, in a way :-)
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This is what a lot of people don't understand with the very wealthy that keep working. They think it is because of greed for money without considering the other greater values they might hold.
Part of the fun of life, finding out how trapped we are ;)
Yeah, totally funny. I am kinda in the middle of processing the fact and finding how difficult it is to actually take the responsibility even when you want to I would say. Because really, environment is another limiting factor here, and personal fear of course.
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I worked at a company once where it seemed like all we did was put out fires. They didn't plan ahead, so a lot of problems were created that didn't need to be. We got a new Ops Manager and he said he wasn't going to put out fires like the last person did. I thought, "great, he's got a plan to get us ahead so we won't need to put out fires." I was wrong. He just didn't help put out the fires. I didn't stay at that company much longer.
Chaos theory management 101
Did you flick matches on the way out? :)
The problem was that there was chaos being caused by management and their decisions (or lack thereof). Rather than taking responsibility for the issues, they just hoped we'd figure it all out. Just lazy and incompetent.
Ha ha! No, not worth it. I just wanted to be done with them.
Those that excuse their lack of ability on chaos theory :D
It was chaos that caused it, but not because it couldn't be predicted, just that they didn't do the work to map the potential issues and then correctly address them when they occurred. Rather than planning to succeed, they failed to plan, thereby planning to fail. They would have failed if I hadn't worked 3 times as hard as I needed to. It was frustrating to spend most of my time putting out fires rather than getting ahead.
Nice analogy. I agree, every situation offers opportunities for growth. It’s a matter of forward-moving attitude and willingness to keep showing up and pitching in to create something strong enough to last and thrive in any climate.
Posted using Partiko iOS
It is hard for many who may not have experienced great levels of adversity to understand what hardship is. This is a social media site that rewards content and still people struggle to keep showing up. Imagine if it was something really serious.
That still blows my mind. I keep showing up because the people are amazing, and this platform gives me a way to share my creativity where it is actually seen! People engage with me, encourage me... and even when my rewards aren't huge, they're a lot more than I was making blogging anywhere else. It takes networking and consistency like anything else. I, for one, think that's a normal thing. I also think all these challenges will make us stronger.
I find this place the most engaging community by far. I would say that most people who start a blog elsewhere will struggle to build real engagement and likely never earn a thing on it without a lot of work. Yes, it is a lot of work here too but there is a whole range of other factors that come into play, the largest might be the experience with the next big thing.
It is easy to burn things down. Hopefully we burn away some of the dead wood before we douse them.
I wonder at what price point that will be.
I have a feeling that we are about to find out ;-)
Agreed. Only a real progressive company will truly invest in their employees. Such investment is a form of preparation in themselves. Preparation is prevention and pays off in the long haul. But many companies do not consider it a high priority. Kind of like the upkeep of car or business machine. What you put into it is what you get out of it. Thanks @tarazkp
The second difficulty is expecting companies to do it all with sensitivity which only the individual can have. Much of life is a two way street I guess.
I learned a long time ago that I will not depend on anyone to invest in me so I have taken it upon myself to do so. Whether it be simply reading trade magazines and curriculum updates or more time consuming activities like seminars or conferences; I dedicate time and money to building my knowledge to remain competitive and build my personal brand in my industry. As I have found a new passion in blockchain, I have done the same to learn and be able to have conversations related to it as the future may hold opportunities for those who do.
Posted using Partiko iOS
This is the approach I take too. I encourage company training but, they will train in what is right for them more than what is right for the employee anyway. The training I do with clients is an exceptional case because it is for the individual as well as the company.
The value of being into the experience early is yet to be known but I would say future knowledge potential is highly leveragable.
They are real life heroes. Their first priorities is other people's safety this is what super heroes do. #respect
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It is a rare breed I'd say.