In talking with executives in the fire and rescue service, I hear a recurring theme: they cannot seem to implement the strategies they so painstakingly have developed. They are not alone in their frustration: this issue is common to all industries, public and private sector alike. The fact is that writing a strategy is the [Continue Reading…]
Consolidation: Panacea or Pandora’s Box?
April 24, 2013 by Leave a Comment
There’s a lot of talk about “consolidation” going on in the public safety arena these days, as well as some action. For example, municipalities such as Naples, FL are beginning to combine adjacent fire districts; others such as Long Beach, CA are consolidating their police and fire dispatch centers; and still others, such as Sunnyvale, [Continue Reading…]
The Predictable Decline of the Public Sector
November 25, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Note: This post originally appeared on my Optimize Business Results blog on April 30, 2011. Organizations go through predictable stages or life cycles: start-up, growth, maturity, decline, and extinction. They can move backwards through these stages as well as forward (e.g., replacing a “mature” product or service with a more innovative one), and not all [Continue Reading…]
14 COMMON MISTAKES MADE BY NEW (AND NOT SO NEW) FIRE CHIEFS
October 29, 2012 by Leave a Comment
After working with four new fire chiefs over the last six years, I’ve noticed some dysfunctional patterns of behavior that, if not corrected, have a significant negative impact on the new chiefs’ ability to create and maintain their departments’ forward momentum. Based on my observation and experience, here are fourteen of the most common mistakes: [Continue Reading…]
