5 things you can do to prevent creativity from taking root in your department
For those of us who think creativity is a vast resource with great potential for the fire service, it’s easy to assume everyone’s on board with cultivating it within their departments.
To be fair, though, that might be assuming too much. Maybe not everyone is rah-rah about creativity. Maybe they think it’s just a lot of woo-woo, pop-psy poppycock, and that hard-nosed critical analysis is the only way to solve problems.
And, maybe that someone is you.
To which I say: okay. You do you, Boo.
Perhaps you’re also high enough on the food chain where your opinion has a respectable amount of clout. Not only do you think fostering creativity is dumb, you’re afraid it’ll distract the minions from good, old-fashioned, analytical problem solving. As far as you’re concerned, it must be stopped—and you’re just the one to stop it.
I have good news for you: you can stamp out creativity, and with surprisingly little effort. And as I am here to serve , I have just what you need to kill the beast before it changes the department you know and love.
Here, then, is my easy 5-step formula for eradicating the creative spark within your fire department.
Step 1: Flash Your Badge
As Nicholas Cage’s EMS supervisor in Bringing Out the Dead said while pointing to his badge, “They don’t give these to sissies.” So blow your bugles: Let everyone know how boss you are, including your views on every pressing problem in the department.
Why flaunt your authority? Because creativity flourishes in an environment where people can freely express ideas, regardless of their rank or standing. All ideas are welcome in early-stage brainstorming, whether from a fifteen-year vet or a fresh out of training probie.
You can throw a wet blanket on all that with a little tap to your badge. Most everyone will take the hint and keep their ideas to themselves.
Step 2: Mock and Belittle
Of course, some are little denser than others and may offer up their contrary ideas anyway. It’s up to you then to pop their balloons by ridiculing them and their ideas.
Ridicule, in fact, is much more effective than chewing out a knucklehead—most people are uncomfortable watching that kind of spectacle. There’s less discomfort with mocking laughter, though, and you might even get some help with the pile-on.
If you’re clever at it, it won’t take long before you’ve turned the object of your mockery into the laughing-stock of the department. Bravo!
Step 3: Ignore
The two steps above will take care of just about everybody. But for the occasional person who doesn’t mind being “eccentric,” appealing to authority or wholesale ridicule won’t dampen their creative spark.
But you got this: If they persist, ignore them. Better yet, stonewall them. Tell them it’s an interesting idea and you’ll think about it, or you’ll “run it up the flagpole and see who salutes it.”
After a while they’ll get bored and go to chasing other windmills. Then you can get back to more important things like pulling your hair out trying to solve a wicked problem.
Step 4: Outlaw Fun
Creativity flourishes in an open, playful atmosphere, rather than the “nose to the grindstone” mode of critical analysis. So, put a lid on any humor or silliness. Absolutely no laughing or cutting up. I mean, really, the fire service is serious business, and you don’t have time for fun and games.
So what if a relaxed, playful environment is conducive to triggering insightful solutions that no one’s ever thought of before? By gum, we’re going to do it the way we’ve always done it for years: the hard way.
Always keep members busy with critical analysis, and crack down on any deviations into levity.
Step 5: Discourage Open-Ended Discussion
In the same vein, you can’t let discussions wander during meetings. Besides being a monumental time-waster, people might actually proffer off-the-wall thoughts and ideas. Before you know it, you’re off the all-business path and chasing rabbits in the creativity weeds.
Stick to a detailed, strict agenda and kill those little bunnies the minute they start hopping. Keep everyone tightly focused to avoid any unique insights that might bubble up. If you encounter resistance. refer to Step 1.
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If you follow this 5-step formula, your subordinates will soon prefer activities like hose loading, pole shining, and apparatus cleaning to pursuing creative problem solving. Before you know it, they’ll be focused entirely on the kinds of solutions your department always seems to circle back to since Sparky was a pup.
By the way, if you think following this formula will make your department better and stronger, I have a horse-drawn, steam engine to sell you.
David Webster served twenty-seven years with the Hattiesburg Fire Department in Mississippi before retiring as fire chief in 2013. Besides The Creative Fire Officer, He also writes marketing content for businesses.
