Are We There Yet - long

Robert.Chaffe at nre.vic.gov.au Robert.Chaffe at nre.vic.gov.au
Thu Feb 13 15:17:52 PST 2003


At the OSonOS in Marysville the question was posed "Are We There Yet?"
Harrison has asked me to share MY reflections of the conversation that this
question provoked.   I was prompted to commit my reflections to print by my
direct involvement in a fire that now has burnt over 2 million acres of
mostly forest and alpine country in south east Australia.  A key outcome to
date has been NO loss of life, very few homes burnt and very minor damage
to community infrastructure all this in an area that has major Hydro
electricity infrastructure, two very large ski resorts and many small towns
servicing forestry, agriculture and tourism.  My reflections.
Robert

Are We There Yet?

Are  we  there  yet?  A simple question posed by Harrison Owen in the final
session  of  the  Open  Space on Open Space at Marysville in November 2002.
The  following  notes  are my reflections on the meeting and may not be the
way others recall or interpret the discussion.

Who are we? And what do we mean by "there"?

Harrison  suggested  that  "we" might mean those people who are responsible
for  the  running  of  businesses  and  organisations  or  those mentoring,
training  or coaching these people.  He suggested that the "there" might be
if  we  stripped away all the jargon and the process and distilled down the
essence  of  what a healthy, productive leading etc organisation would have
at  its  core  could  we  describe  what  that  would  be and could we give
practical examples.

The  group  quickly  agreed  that  the answer to the question "Are we there
yet?" is yes!

The  reflections from the group was that when openly working with groups it
is  very  evident  that  the  group  knows  what  and in many cases why the
organisation works.

"We"  know  that  "the what" that makes things work is more than the formal
"plan"  ?  business  or  organisational  plan.   Most  recalled  that  when
contracting   to   work   for  an  organisation  we  were  often  given  an
organisational  chart or business plan and as it was handed over the common
comment  was "well that is how it was but there have been some changes?..".
We  all  agreed  that  despite  the  plans  being out of date many of these
organisations  were  flourishing and leaders in their field.  It would seem
that the people knew what had to be done to make things work.

As  we  pushed  this  further it became clear that the relationship network
within  organisations was one of the best-kept secrets.  When the people of
any  organisation were asked in an open environment they would have stories
like  "Everyone knows this place would fall apart if xxxx in accounts left"
"If you real want to make things happen???."

We  also reflected that many of the greatest break throughs or new products
or practices are almost always outside the formal plan ?
 An apple on the head and we get a new insight into physics,
"Postit" notes are the result of a failed glue experiment,
The  modern  photocopier  and digital printers are the product of a ghostly
image on a plate that had nothing to do with the job at hand.
And so on.

We  also  know that within successful organisations we will find robust and
highly competent management that underpins, supports, resources and reports
what the organisation does.

The  example given of all these factors in action was Forest Fire fighting.
This  is  an  organisational response to a unique set of circumstances.  We
can  predict  that we might have a forest fire but each fire is unique, how
it  starts,  where it starts, the weather that influences its behaviour and
the people who are brought together to "fight" the fire.

Essentially a Fire Fighting effort is a group of skilled people or teams of
people  with  the appropriate resources integrated to respond to "what ever
comes".  Partly it is reactive and intense and partly it is strategic.
Forest managers do a lot of risk management work:
·  Fuel reduction,
·  Maintaining or sourcing the special equipment that might be needed,
·  Training people in specific skills that are needed when the fire comes,
·  Recruiting new people to maintain a viable fire fighting force
·  Maintaining a sense of purpose and moral among the firefighters,
·  Ensuring that resources to sustain the firefighting effort are available
when required.

All  this  effort  is  set in place but is not deployed until it is needed.
Then   the   resources   are   deployed  based  on  current  and  predicted
circumstances ? the fire fighting is deployed, developed and closed down in
direct proportion to the state of the fire and its predicted development.

The  resources  that the firefighting effort uses are not, in the majority,
dedicated fire fighters but are people with special skills who are deployed
as required.

In  the  jargon  of the 1980's it is a "Just In time" "zero inventory" type
business that is only there while the need is there.  An example of meeting
a need and moving on!

In  simple  terms once a fire incident starts the Incident Controller leads
by  deploying  the resources required now.  This deployment is based on the
current  situation report, reports that are prepared and delivered at times
consistent  to  the  state  (both  real  and predicted) of the fire and the
environment in which the fire is located.

We  have  a process of preparedness from very low risk to level one through
to  level  four.  So  we  actually  give  waning to the people who might be
involved  as  to  their  possible  need  and  the  urgency  of any possible
response.   At  the  highest  level  we  actually  have them standing by to
minimise the delay in response should a fire start.

We  have  developed  objective tools to measure and monitor conditions that
give  us the foundation for action.  We retain and encourage people who are
interested  in  the  business  of  fire  fighting  to  act  as  a source of
experience  and thinking that can accurately and quickly access a situation
and  deploy the best action even though the site, the people, the resources
and  the  conditions  at  the  spot  have never been together at that place
before.

The  business  of firefighting is based on a plan, deploy and review cycle,
which is constantly acting in new circumstances.  The process condemns poor
performance  to  history  and  limited  ability is replaced with new action
based  on  what  we  know  works  now  and is responsive to the current and
perceived   situation   or  conditions.   It  is  a  process  that  gathers
intelligence from wide and diverse sources, everything from the food people
eat  to  the  latest  satellite  images  of  the  fire edge.  The action or
deployment  is  very strongly based on what is working, things that are not
working or are redundant are dropped quickly to give capacity to the things
that are working now.

There  is  a  heavy  reliance  on individuals and small teams to apply best
practice well away from close supervision.  It is a process where teams are
formed  quickly  and  then  dispersed,  where  people are required to build
relationships and trust quickly and get on with the job.

We felt that we could take the metaphor further but the point had been made
?  we  have  a  working example of an organisation that mirrors most of the
things we would regard as best practice for any organisation.

Here we see reflected the essence of a high performing organisation
·  "High Learning
·  High play
·  Appropriate Structure
·  Appropriate control
·  Genuine community"
Harrison Owen "Riding the Tiger" pp 126

We also see the core elements of
Strong Vital         Leadership ?      doing the right thing
Expansive and exclusive    Vision ?    inventing the future
Strong  and  cohesive         Community  ?       the people, their life and
welfare are a deeply integrated part of the business
Robust  and  sound            Management ?      People, systems and process
that  optimise  resources  that  are  the  best  for the job are ready when
required and are deployed and sustained effectively.

Are  we there yet? Yes, well, we do have working examples that tell us that
we  can  be there now.  No, in our reflections we also recognised that ever
present  in  our community are organisations who are comfortable in staying
where they are despite the changing environment in which they exist.  It is
these  'organisations' who ask, "Who moved my cheese?" while the successful
have moved on to "new cheese" and are enjoying it.

*
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