day 379: Firefighting

Ever have one of those days, weeks, month or a year when all it felt like you could get done was to put out fires? These are the times that you just deal with one problem or crisis after another and you feel like you can't seem to stop them from coming. There is really only one way to put out a fire and this is to remove or starve the fuels. The fuels being the substance to be burned or the oxygen that accelerates the burning. One of them must go away. Crisis management and corporate firefighting are the same. Whatever is reinforcing the crisis or whatever the substance of the crisis must be removed. Sometimes that means us getting into the middle of the fire and taking the chance of getting burned ourselves to remove the issue. Corporate fires are many times fueled by gossip, rumors and false truths. These things feed the fires and what starts as a small issue quickly turns into a raging bonfire. In this age of email and being always on and always connected, sometimes it feels like we have to be watching over the communications on email all the time if for nothing else to be there to put out a small fire before it turns raging. Think of how much of our time that could be saved if we didn't have to worry about this firefighting? Since many times what fans the flames of the fire are those half-truths, gossip and rumors, that is the place to start in good corporate firefighting prevention. Remove the acceptance, ability and/or the people who gossip, start rumors and/or never quite tell the whole and fully-truthful story and many of the problems will disappear. As believers we also get this instruction in Proverbs 26:20; "Fire goes out without wood, and quarrels disappear when gossip stops." Today, at our job, there will be someone who will want to start the gossip. Once we ascertain and ensure it is not us who is throwing wood on the fire, then we should step forward and do our part to stop the gossip, squelch the rumors and ensure the truth. The best firefighters are those who prevent fires and never allow the fire to start. That is the type of firefighting that is productive and if we are known as those types of people, then others will see a unique sense of calm and peace that may well surpass understanding, sparking just the conversation that you want to have with others.

Reference: Proverbs 26:20 (New Living Testament)