Understanding the Effort Required to Solve the Firefighting Challenge

Approximate reading time: 2 minutes

Trying to hold back the tide of emails, tasks, meetings and so many other things to do? I get it. I’ve been there. And honestly, there are days when I’m still there – firefighting with the best of them. It’s a never ending to-do list on top of working too many hours and feeling stressed, tired, and overwhelmed.

Here’s the kicker: there are no silver bullets to solve this. No magic potion. Ultimately, you need to accept that this challenge will always be there. But what you can control is how you react to the challenge.

As the Austrian psychologist Viktor E Frankl said…

Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.

The response we are asking you to choose is to learn how to change your behaviours. Don’t get us wrong, changing behaviours is hard. It takes effort and it won’t come overnight (Michael Jordan said: ‘It took me 17 years to become an overnight success!’). You have made your decision to accept the challenge, knowing full well that it won’t be easy. You’ve taken the first step. Well done.

So let’s continue…

Now it’s about choosing whether the reward is worth the effort. That involves the change equation:

C = D × V × F > R

• C = Change
• D = Dissatisfaction with how things are now
• V = Vision of what is possible
• F = First concrete steps that can be taken towards the vision.

If the product of these 3 factors is greater than the 4th factor:

• R = Resistance

Then change will happen.

In other words, how unhappy are you with always firefighting (Dissatisfaction)? Can you see a way of how it might look when it is better (Vision)? And what are things you can do to get from D to V (First steps)?

If you are unhappy and can see how it looks when it is better, then here are the first steps (4 techniques) in the remainder of this module.  Remember, achieving behavioural change is not easy and will take your perseverance.

Please learn these 4 techniques to overcome firefighting.

Your Action

Capture your takeaways from this part of the module on your Keepers ® before you continue to the next part because you’ll need them to pass the quizzes.

Soar With the Eagles

P.S. ‘Firefighting’ conjures up brave, honourable and fearless images and connotations.

Seth Godin said that one of the problems with ‘Global Warming’ was what we called it. By calling it global warming we feel warm, safe, almost like we’re sitting around a cosy fire. Instead, he suggested ‘Global Cancer’ may have changed how we thought about it and encouraged us to act more quickly.

‘Firefighting’ is the same. Let’s keep calling it that because we’re used to it. At the same time let’s not kid ourselves it is brave. It’s not, as living in Box 1 is very stressful, overwhelming and a real attack on our mental health. Please keep in the back of your minds that Box 1 is the ‘Heart Attack Box’.