Stop Fire Fighting!

Welcome to Discuss HR, the HR blog written by Human Resources UK. 

Discuss HR today is by Una Doyle who follows her Valentine’s post  with an article that will probably strike a chord with many HR professionals. (Ed Scrivener)

Stop Fire Fighting!

"One of the tests of leadership is the ability to recognise a problem before it becomes an emergency." Arnold H. Glasow

There's no doubt that managers and business owners around the globe have all experienced fire fighting at one time or another. Some companies even have it built into the culture. Yet everybody seems to agree that fire fighting on a long-term basis is not a good thing...

So what are some of the reasons fire fighting happens?

Psychological addiction to the feeling of achievement

Severe cuts in staffing

Attempting to be lean and agile

How Different People Fire Fight

However, do different personalities - with their corresponding strengths and weaknesses - have their own personal reasons for fire fighting? If so, maybe there is more that can be done about it then people perhaps think.

Those people who are highly innovative and dynamic could be more likely to engage in fire fighting. For them it may initially seem to be exciting and fun and they also get to use their natural problem solving strengths. The more they get hailed as a hero for saving the day, the more freedom they will experience to do things their way, which they tend to relish.

Those who are quite extrovert and sociable will love the high-paced interactions with others and flying around here, there and everywhere getting everyone on board.

For both these personality types it could even have been their tendency towards a lack of attention to detail that caused the fire in the first place!

However, that's not to say that other personalities may not fire fight too in the right, or should I say wrong, circumstances. It is likely to be incredibly stressful for them though to do so.

Those with a very grounded energy that are very good at implementing may end up fire fighting because they can find it very hard to say no and consequently can easily take on too much. While this may appear to serve them - and their colleagues - in the short term, over time it is likely to cause burn-out and possibly even ill-health while they get bogged down in the detail.

Those who are quite introverted with strong analytical energy could get very frustrated with constantly having to deal with issues that they know could probably be systemised so that they don't even occur in the first place. Under pressure, without time to think things through or adequate data to base decisions on, they could feel extremely uncomfortable - watch out!

How to Stop Fire Fighting

The key thing for all personality types is to firstly admit that fire fighting is happening. The second is to get into the habit of identifying what kind of problem it really is... Then they can get the person and/or team with the right perspective and strengths to solve it.

The most dynamic will intuitively want to innovate their way out of problems

The more extrovert people will naturally think about who is the best person to connect with to get the desired result

Those who are grounded will look at how to improve relationships and/or operations

The analytical will consider the systems and processes in place and what needs to be created or improved

This means that people will need to let go of the idea that they, and only they, can rescue the day... The fact is that in business - as in life - things happen. There will always be problems to solve. At the same time the time and resources that can be saved by putting out the fire of fire fighting is immense.

Imagine if you and your team were able to spend time in your areas of strengths, instead of being pulled in all directions every time something happened? Though initially it would require investing a little time, afterwards there would be the time and space to do what you do best. This allows you to add more value and leverage it effectively within your team and organisation for better results on the bottom line and beyond.

So the next time you or your team have just put out a fire, stop! Get others with different strengths and perspectives involved to look at what happened and how to prevent it happening again. Become a better leader by reducing the emergencies in your organisation.

Read about Una and our other authors here

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Discuss HR is the HR blog written by members of Human Resources UK, the 10,000 member strong LinkedIn group dedicated to the HR professionals in the UK.  Discuss HR is published twice weekly and looks to take an insightful, informative and sometimes irreverent view on the world of HR – all with the purpose of generating a discussion.

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