Command Post: Going for the Gold: Effective Decision-Making

Effective communication is the firm basis upon which you must build your decision-making process. A good decision is predicated upon the availability of good information. Your ability to analyze that data tells just how well you will do.

One cornerstone of a dynamic organization is the rampant growth of decision-making skills among its personnel. I have also noted organizations where the power to make decisions lay in the hands of a few. Organizations of this sort are paralyzed while waiting for the key words from one of the chosen few. There are two types of decisions, the routine, programmed type and the non-programmed sort made up of novel ideas and actions.

Routine decisions vs. special occasions

An example of the routine type of decision can be found in the mundane area of heating fuel replenishment. You all know that you need fuel oil to keep the home fires burning during the cold nights of winter. To keep abreast of this important data, you see that every Monday morning the stick reading is taken by a member of your company and the amount of fuel noted.

No big decision here, just a routine standard operating procedure (SOP). If you do not need oil, record that fact; if you do, simply call the appropriate telephone number in your procedure manual. This is the ideal way to handle routine decisions. See that all similar, recurring decisions are made for the people by the use of SOPs.

You save time on the routine decisions so that it will be available for those special occasions when you are faced with a non-programmed decision. These are the ones that require the use of every step in the decision-making format. Non-programmed decisions require more effort and generally need the actions of chiefs, trustees, commissioners or a vote of the membership. A good guide as to whether a decision is routine or not also involves your level of confidence in those to whom you delegate the authority for decision-making.

If you feel that it can be handled by someone down the chain of command, it’s probably of a routine nature. However, if you are immediately overcome with the feeling that this decision will take a lot of work and the combined activities of a number of people, then it is probably non-programmed, non-routine and requires the full treatment.

In addition to your gut feelings, three things can help you determine whether a decision is routine or not. They are:

a. Nature

b. Frequency

c. Degree of certainty

As another example, let us compare the laying of a hoseline to the purchase of a new hazardous materials response apparatus. Hose laying occurs every day. However, apparatus acquisition is an infrequent venture for the average fire department.

The outcomes from laying hose are pretty standard. If you lay hose correctly, you should get water. But when it comes to your outcomes in the buying of apparatus, there are a lot more things to worry about. For example, if you get a chassis that cannot carry the entire apparatus’ weight, your capabilities will suffer. Further, if you do not determine the types of material which could be encountered by your team, then you may not but the right type of clothing to handle the incidents which may arise.

Decisions are a means to an end, not the end themselves. Some people get so carried away with the mechanics of making a decision that they never get to the point where the decision is actually made and implemented. So, do not get all caught up in the process to the exclusion of the decision and its applications to your problems.

Let us not take a look at the actual problem-solving model itself. You must learn to:

a. Analyze data

b. Identify problems

c. Develop alternatives

d. Evaluate the alternatives

e. Choose the one which meets your needs

f. Do it

g. Evaluate the feedback

In data analysis, you are looking at vast quantities of information to see if any trends can be identified. You are looking at the relationships among and between things to see where problems exist, and perhaps where solutions might come from.

This leads you to the problem identification stage, where you see groups of data telling you something is amiss. If you find that a fire department is responding to a low percentage of working fires and is experiencing a high percentage of deaths and injuries, then you must begin to see that something is wrong.

Whatever that something is, it is your problem and it is incumbent upon you to find out exactly what it is and how to get rid of it. As you wind your way through the data, not only will the problems become evident, but so will a number of potential solutions.

Do not jump at the first solution you find, but list them all and then go through them in a methodical manner. Brainstorm for alternatives. Write down the obvious and then go for the less obvious. List all of your choices, even those that are a bit outlandish. Even the outlandish can be of some service in that they might point you to a good alternative you would not have otherwise seen.

Once you have all your possible alternatives, choose the one which most closely fits your specific requirements. The requirements can involve dollars, data, results or danger. Whatever your special needs are, they will influence the choice of alternatives. If your department is having a dollar battle with your mayor, then you would obviously rule out any solution requiring massive infusion of capital resources.

Once you have made your decision as to which possible solution meets yours needs, do it. You do no good for yourself or your fire department when you put off making an important decision. If there is one thing which experience has taught us, it is that decisions do not go away. They get worse if ignored. So when you have to, decide.

Of course, you must monitor your decision. Feedback can tell you if you made a good decision. If you have made a decision which is supposed to manifest itself in a reduced fire rate, you should take no comfort from an outcome where the number of fires remains the same, or worse, goes up.

Let us not kid one another. Certain elements can influence your ability to respond to a problem-solving scenario. You will always be faced with some form of value judgment, in that a decision cannot be divorced from the people making the decision. Who you are and what you think will tint your decisions in a way that might be significantly different from your friends and associates.

Closely allied with the value judgment is the personality of the person making the decision. Who you are and where you come from is based upon how you were brought to maturity. We all have different concepts of what is acceptable rick. The dangers involved in a decision will bear upon each person called to make a decision in a slightly different way.

It has been my choice to invest in certificates of deposit and insurance company annuities. Other friends have chosen the stock market and have had a range of success. These decisions are based upon differences in acceptable levels of risk. That pretty much sums up how different people look at the same risk in different ways.

Finally, do not let the post-decision blues take hold. We all worry about our decisions a little and wonder if the right choice was made. It is just human nature. So it is with decision-making. If you are to succeed in the business of fire service management, then you must become a decision maker.

Dr. Carter shares his perspectives in his “The View From my Front Porch” blog at: http://www.firehouse.com/blogs/the-view-from-my-front-porch.

HARRY R. CARTER, Ph.D., a Firehouse^® contributing editor, is a fire protection consultant based in Adelphia, NJ. He is chairman of the Board of Commissioners in Howell Township Fire District 2 and retired from the Newark Fire Department as a battalion commander. Dr. Carter has been a member of the Adelphia Fire Company since 1971, serving as chief in 1991. He is a life member and past president of the International Society of Fire Service Instructors and life member of the National Fire Protection Association. He is president of the United States of America Branch of the Institution of Fire Engineers (IFE) of Great Britain. Dr. Carter holds a Ph.D. in organization and management from Capella University in Minneapolis, MN.

Connect with Harry:

LinkedIn: Tubaman

Email: [email protected]