HARRY R. CARTER, Ph.D., MIFireE

As I sat down at my computer yesterday morning to begin work on this little session with you, I was torn in a number of directions. What to do? What could I write about? I had to make a decision and it was driving me crazy.

Should I write about some great gem of interpersonal wisdom? Or should I apply my talents to something technical? Or should I share something with you from my career in the fire service? I had trouble making the decision. Then it came to me in a flash! I should write a word or two about decision-making.

But since I wasn’t sure, I pondered for a while; then I rethought the concept. When it seemed right, I decided to start. But then I stopped for awhile. Hence, the title for this missive. Actually my wife suggested that I am not the one to discuss the concept of decision-making. It took me six tries before I decided to add an addition onto our home back in the 1980’s when the twins came into our lives. I was not a stellar maker of critical decisions.

The decision tree for that episode went something like this. Should we move or should we stay in our home? Move; don’t move. Should we add a few rooms or not. Add on; don’t add on. Don’t move; do add on. And so it went for a number of months, during which time, the twins grew bigger. To make a pathetically long story somewhat shorter, we stayed and we added on. After all, we liked the neighborhood and it was the house where my wife had grown to adulthood.

Shortly after my wife and I decided to stay and add on to our home, the county announced that they were considering widening the road out in front of our house. A review of the proposed plans was most disquieting. The shoulder line for the road project came ten feet into our home, or just about dead center to the Lazy-Boy chair, where I live, breath and think. You can imagine how poor this made my decision look. Fortunately, the county did not widen the road and I am writing to you from that very home.

Now for what I think is the critical part of this article. How does one make decisions? To begin with, it is usually necessary for you to realize that any individual decision is rarely a single act. Usually it is a process, because making a single decision is not the important thing. Rare is the situation that occurs in a vacuum, devoid of any ties to the rest of your life.

It has been my experience that it is critical for a person’s decision-making skills to show themselves via the mechanism of a series of successful decisions, where one small decision is linked to the next. This is the concept know as the decision chain. It is these decision chains that you can use to form the basis for your success in any aspect of fire service operations.

These chains fall into one of three distinct groups:

• Problem-Solving Chains
• Opportunity-Exploiting Chains
• Project-Management Chains

In the case of the problem solving chain you are forced to face situations which are not what you expect. Quite simply, something is wrong, and a decision is needed to make it right. It is up to you to find out what is wrong and work to fix it. That fix will be your decision.

Decisions made under the opportunity-exploiting chain normally do not have the same level of urgency found with the problem-solving chain. In this case the decision is driven by question of the difference between what is and what could be. In just about every fire department, the potential exists for improvements. A good decision involves the maximization of benefit for the agency. In order to be effective, the decision must be based on a reflective review of the organization, as it actually exists. These are the sorts of decisions that allow you to advance to the next level of organizational success

Decisions that are made under the project-management chain cover the day-to-day operations of the fire department, as well as any special projects that may be ongoing. These may be routine decisions, such as managing a budget, or determining which inspections will be conducted next week. They might also bear on the development of special projects such as new stations, new programs, or a long-range apparatus replacement plan. Your success as a leader and as a manager will come from making good day-to-day decisions.

It is critical for me to point out that the primary thing that you must recognize is that you have to acknowledge that a problem exists. If you do not see a problem, you cannot solve a problem. Unfortunately, people sometimes tend to react to problems with an air of ignorance or denial. Some of the ways in which people deal (or do not deal) with problems are:

• Deny that a problem exists
• Camouflage the problems
• Blame someone else

Problems do not go away, just because you do not want to act on them. It has been our experience that they actually get worse. If people would just stop putting their head into the sand and face up to the fact that a problem exists, we would have less problems in the fire service.

When you finally come to the realization that a problem exists, you will need to have a plan for making the necessary decisions in your life. We have developed a seven-step plan for making decisions within our personal and professional lives:

• Recognize that a problem exists
• Analyze the data surrounding the situation
• Develop alternative solutions which seem to fit the situation
• Evaluate the alternatives to see which one will probably fit your needs best
• Choose one
• Do it
• Evaluate the feedback and make adjustments as necessary

The first step in the problem-solving process is the simplest and most important. You must admit that a problem exists. Once you get this step, you can begin to get to work developing a positive solution.

The second step in the problem-solving process involves defining the problem. It is critical that you confirm that a problem really exists. Once you have done that you need to define that problem in written form. This helps to focus your thinking.

The third step in problem solution is the part where you begin to analyze the problem. You must work to get the whole story. Facts are critical. You should review the record, and then find out what rules, customs, and procedures apply. You should then talk with all of the people involved in the situation. This is critical. You need to gather opinions, facts, and feelings. You need to ask people the following questions:

• What did you see?
• What did you hear?
• What did you say?

You can then decide on your method of attacking the problem. You can choose to solve it yourself, without outside assistance. Or you might choose to call a conference with the key people. It is possible that you could delegate the investigation to another person or form a committee to study the situation. Lastly there are those who decide to can in an outside consultant to assist you in attacking the problem.

As you work to develop alternative solutions, do not jump to conclusions, or use the first solution you find. You should fit the facts together, consider their interaction, one upon the other. Which is the causal factor and which is just the symptom of the problem?

Review department policies and procedures for possible pre-existing solutions. Consider any potential affects upon people and the organization. Consider all possible alternatives. This is called brainstorm. Put the ideas of your people to work. And it is critical to ask yourself, if all of the alternatives are realistic?

The fourth step can be the most difficult. You need to take action. And do not try to pass the buck! You will need to select the best alternative for the situation at hand. Then it is important to decide if you are going to do the job yourself or if you need help. There are some other questions that you will need to answer. Should you kick the solution of the problem up to your boss? Or is it within the capability of your team to do it? Whichever way it goes, it is critical to do something!

The fifth step is very important. You must check for results. Follow up will tell you how well you are doing. How soon should you follow up? If the task is critical, checking soon is good. How often should you check? Often enough to insure that the desired results are being achieved. Not so often that your people think that you do not trust them. You must watch for changes in output, attitudes, and relationships.

At this point you will need to ask a critical question. Did you solve the problem? If the answer is Yes, congratulations. If the answer is NO, then you would be well advised to try another of the alternatives that you identified. But it may well be that you will come up short and have to start the problem-solving process again. Be sure to work right from the very beginning of the formula. Do not skip any steps.

And if the solution does not work, select another. If none of your solutions works, then it will be necessary to go back to step one. Redefine the problem and reanalyze the data. Work the system until you get it right. That will equal a solved problem.

While it may be difficult to remember all of the steps, we would urge you to commit them to memory. We would also strongly advise that you use them in order. Do not jump steps or jump to obvious conclusions. This can lead to problems, and problems are what you are attempting to solve with your decision-making process.

During this week’s commentary, I have shown you some of the steps that I have developed to work on solving life’s problems, both big and small. In a few days we’ll post the next segment of this piece which will enhance your view of the importance of decision making in your life and your professional career.

The commentary in this column does not necessarily reflect those of Firehouse.Com, Firehouse Magazine, their employees or parent company Cygnus Business Media. Harry R. Carter, Ph.D., MIFireE, is an internationally known municipal fire protection consultant and contributing editor to Firehouse Magazine. He recently retired as a Battalion Commander with the Newark, New Jersey Fire Department. His commentary appears regularly on Firehouse.Com. For more commentary and information, visit Carter's web site at www.harrycarter.com Harry has published several books available for online ordering, including Firefighting Strategy and Tactics and Management in the Fire Service