How anticipation and intentionality may create opportunity moments inside crises
Fire is fire, right?
High heat, the impact of burn, the power to destroy, these are features all fires have in common. But what is the difference between the fire accidentally triggered by a careless camper and the one set by a trained park ranger or ecologist? Intention, skill and outcome.
Teams are fighting fires every day, to the extent that the concept of ‘fire drills’ has become common organizational slang for the reactive dance of facing and responding to crises, often unexpected ones. While typical, fire drills can become a cultural trait and even an organizational value when reactionary work becomes customary instead of truly emergency.
One alternative to a persistent fire drill culture? Understanding and anticipating threats and developing a strategy inspired by controlled burning forest management methods.
Controlled burns are prescriptions for change
Any avid hiker has witnessed a completed controlled burn at some point on a trail: the charred remains of trees and plant life; the still-lingering smell; the crunchy ash distributed underfoot. In the aftermath, it’s only clear that some fire has occurred. What’s missing is the knowledge of the original plan and understanding of the prescription that preceded the fire.
While destructive events, fires can be drivers of rejuvenation when employed skillfully. In forested areas, intentional fires can prevent unintentional ones by clearing away dead debris, can destroy invasive species, increase soil nutrition turnover faster than natural decomposition or open up space to allow young trees to soak up sunlight for improved growth.
Controlled burning is the skillset that helps practitioners decide when, where and for how long an intentional fire will burn. They will also determine how the fire will be set, in what format, how to manage smoke, potential spread and plan emergency responses should the plan go awry. These burns are typically achieved through either broadcast burning – intentional fires covering a specific territory or block of land or pile burning – intentional fires set to smaller, individualized chunks of vegetation.
What can organizations learn?
Rather than see fires as destructive events out of their control and managed only through reactivity drills, teams might build their skills in organizational controlled burning.
- Fire as neutral, even positive Might teams find a flexible mindset toward ‘fire’, training themselves to seek opportunity amid the potential destruction externally-created emergencies can bring?
- Anticipation of threats Could organizations engage their vulnerabilities in advance to anticipate external threats? Rather than wait for fire drills, could they plan a controlled burn – with emergency responses built in – to increase the odds of an intentional and mission-aligned outcome? This does not remove the need to react to crisis but may help teams experience less stress and more confidence in their ability to manage emergencies.
- Open to clearing Could teams first evaluate their needs as forestry professionals do their ecosystem? This might look like asking questions including: what needs to be cleared to make the way for success? What piles (programs, policies or habits) need to be proactively removed to allow fresh growth?
There is no doubt that significant systemic volatility plagues the economic, social, political and cultural spheres. And many of the organizational threats arising from this vulnerability will require equally systemic responses. Mindsets alone cannot solve many of the most pressing adversities presented by this moment.
Transformational resilience
But for those persistent challenges and emerging opportunities that organizations can more fully address on their own, a controlled burn approach could be a game-changer for productivity, culture, teamwork and employee well-being. Enabling and incentivizing the controlled burn mindset and equipping the team with skills to activate that mindset could be the difference between perpetual fire-fighting and more proactive, less stressful mission delivery.
