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Dear Colleagues,

I got an interesting question from a friend of mine the other day and wasn't quite sure how to answer it.  I told him I'd send it to a listserv or two to let some real experts answer it.  As far as cultural change (in his question, below) I could give an adequate answer.  However, his description of a "firefighter culture" seemed especially interesting and we both wonder if there has been good research on that topic.

<snip> "<st1:place w:st="on">OB</st1:place> question for you......do you know of any good research on what I call a "firefighters culture"?  Here at xxxxxxxx, we seem to foster a culture where we promote and encourage "firefighters"; those people who react to things at the last minute and save the day for the company.  What some of us in my department is how to change encouraging this kind of behavior and get people to think about what created the fire in the first place, such as poor planning, inadequate staff and tools, underfunding, etc.  Managers here don't seem to want to analyze these kinds of problems, but rather rely on those one or 2 people who always manage to make big plays for the company." </snip>

I have heard of this phenomenon in the design/operation of IT shops. There is a consulting company in the IT field that evaluates shops on their level of sophistication/readiness in responding to demands/crises/etc. I believe there are three levels. Level I is called the heroic model, in which the shop is actually not capable of dealing with the challenges it faces but there is "one person" who often saves the day. This sounds analogous to the "firefighter culture" mentioned. Sorry I don't know more about it such as cites, etc.

Jack

Jack H. Walters, Ph.D.
College of Business and Information Systems
Dakota State University
East Hall 204B
820 N. Washington Ave.
Madison, SD 57042
(605) 256-5162
http://homepages.dsu.edu/waltersj/

Dear Colleagues,

I got an interesting question from a friend of mine the other day and wasn't quite sure how to answer it.  I told him I'd send it to a listserv or two to let some real experts answer it.  As far as cultural change (in his question, below) I could give an adequate answer.  However, his description of a "firefighter culture" seemed especially interesting and we both wonder if there has been good research on that topic.

<snip> "OB question for you......do you know of any good research on what I call a "firefighters culture"?  Here at xxxxxxxx, we seem to foster a culture where we promote and encourage "firefighters"; those people who react to things at the last minute and save the day for the company.  What some of us in my department is how to change encouraging this kind of behavior and get people to think about what created the fire in the first place, such as poor planning, inadequate staff and tools, underfunding, etc.  Managers here don't seem to want to analyze these kinds of problems, but rather rely on those one or 2 people who always manage to make big plays for the company." </snip>

Hi Gary,

Leslie Perlow has done research on this topic as well as implemented a field experiment to turn the culture around. She talks about this phenomenon as the "crisis mentality." Cites are below:

Perlow, L. A. 1997. Finding time: how corporations, individuals, and families can benefit from new work practices. <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Ithaca</st1:city>, <st1:state w:st="on">N.Y.</st1:state></st1:place>: ILR Press.

Perlow, L. A. 1998. Boundary control:  The social ordering of work and family time in a high-tech corporation. Administrative Science Quarterly, 43(2): 328-357.

Perlow, L. A. 1999. The time famine: Toward a sociology of work time. Administrative Science Quarterly, 44(1): 57-81.

Hope this helps,

Špela  

Špela Trefalt

Harvard|Business|School

Doctoral Candidate

Office: 617 495 6495

strefalt@hbs.edu

I have heard of this phenomenon in the design/operation of IT shops. There is a consulting company in the IT field that evaluates shops on their level of sophistication/readiness in responding to demands/crises/etc. I believe there are three levels. Level I is called the heroic model, in which the shop is actually not capable of dealing with the challenges it faces but there is "one person" who often saves the day. This sounds analogous to the "firefighter culture" mentioned. Sorry I don't know more about it such as cites, etc.

Jack

Jack H. Walters, Ph.D.
<st1:placetype w:st="on">College</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename w:st="on">Business</st1:placename> and Information Systems
Dakota State University
East Hall 204B
820 N. <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Washington</st1:place></st1:state> Ave.
<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Madison</st1:city>, <st1:state w:st="on">SD</st1:state> <st1:postalcode w:st="on">57042</st1:postalcode></st1:place>
(605) 256-5162
http://homepages.dsu.edu/waltersj/

Dear Colleagues,

I got an interesting question from a friend of mine the other day and wasn't quite sure how to answer it.  I told him I'd send it to a listserv or two to let some real experts answer it.  As far as cultural change (in his question, below) I could give an adequate answer.  However, his description of a "firefighter culture" seemed especially interesting and we both wonder if there has been good research on that topic.

<snip> "<st1:place w:st="on">OB</st1:place> question for you......do you know of any good research on what I call a "firefighters culture"?  Here at xxxxxxxx, we seem to foster a culture where we promote and encourage "firefighters"; those people who react to things at the last minute and save the day for the company.  What some of us in my department is how to change encouraging this kind of behavior and get people to think about what created the fire in the first place, such as poor planning, inadequate staff and tools, underfunding, etc.  Managers here don't seem to want to analyze these kinds of problems, but rather rely on those one or 2 people who always manage to make big plays for the company." </snip>

Theodore H. Rosen, Ph.D.

GW School of Public Health and Health Services

Department of Health Services Management and Leadership

301/493-9570

throsen@gwu.edu

USA

I have heard of this phenomenon in the design/operation of IT shops. There is a consulting company in the IT field that evaluates shops on their level of sophistication/readiness in responding to demands/crises/etc. I believe there are three levels. Level I is called the heroic model, in which the shop is actually not capable of dealing with the challenges it faces but there is "one person" who often saves the day. This sounds analogous to the "firefighter culture" mentioned. Sorry I don't know more about it such as cites, etc.

 

Jack

Jack H. Walters, Ph.D.
College of Business and Information Systems
Dakota State University
East Hall 204B
820 N. Washington Ave.
Madison, SD 57042
(605) 256-5162
http://homepages.dsu.edu/waltersj/

 

 

From: Organizational Behavior Division Listserv [mailto: OB@AOMLISTS.pace.edu] On Behalf Of Gary Stark
Sent: Thursday, October 11, 2007 1:17 PM
To: OB@AOMLISTS.pace.edu
Subject: culture of putting out fires

 

Dear Colleagues,

 

I got an interesting question from a friend of mine the other day and wasn't quite sure how to answer it.  I told him I'd send it to a listserv or two to let some real experts answer it.  As far as cultural change (in his question, below) I could give an adequate answer.  However, his description of a "firefighter culture" seemed especially interesting and we both wonder if there has been good research on that topic.

 

<snip> "OB question for you......do you know of any good research on what I call a "firefighters culture"?  Here at xxxxxxxx, we seem to foster a culture where we promote and encourage "firefighters"; those people who react to things at the last minute and save the day for the company.  What some of us in my department is how to change encouraging this kind of behavior and get people to think about what created the fire in the first place, such as poor planning, inadequate staff and tools, underfunding, etc.  Managers here don't seem to want to analyze these kinds of problems, but rather rely on those one or 2 people who always manage to make big plays for the company." </snip>

 

 

Gary Stark, Ph.D.

College of Business

Northern Michigan University

1401 Presque Isle Ave

Marquette, MI 49855

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

ph. 906/227-1244

fax 906/227-2930

mailto:gstark@nmu.edu

office location: Cohodas 304G

 

 

 

 

Dear Colleagues,

My colleague, Lynn Isabella, has written a case on a fire department in particular and how they respond, act and learn which I attach for your review.  It's not exactly the same as the "firefighter" culture-aptly described by Stephen Covey in his Urgency/Important grid as Quadrant I.  But it does encourage a discussion of how "fire fighting" works and what's necessary to make it work well...

http://store.darden.virginia.edu/ecustomer_enu/start.swe?SWECmd=Start

We might also add a discussion of how pressures for short term operating results in our "results oriented" society from Wall Street has pushed many to think of business being just about "making money" rather than making money in particular ways and with particular life styles and cultures.  Encouraging mid- and long- term thinking many have come to feel is anathema to the modern results orientation.  Getting beyond fire-fighting requires a willingness to look ahead and for many this is not encouraged by their management or their organizational cultures.

Regards,

   Jim

James G. Clawson

E. Thayer Bigelow Professor of Business Administration

Box 6550

Darden Graduate School of Business Administration

Charlottesville, VA 22906

Tel:  434 924 7488

Web: http://faculty.darden.virginia.edu/clawsonj