One of the more odd cultures that I have encountered in my career is the firestarter/firefighter environment. This is a business atmosphere where everything is an emergency, and must be dealt with immediately. Once the fire is dealt with the firefighter is rewarded. Being proactive is thought of as being wasteful because everything is an emergency, so why spend time planning and creating systems?
 
This environment tends to breed firestarters – or arsonists… These are the people who intentionally let things go, cover up mistakes, fail to share information and generally are a bit obtrusive – just so they can be the hero by coming in to save the day. You know the people I mean – they are constantly fighting fires in their day to day work – just so they can appear indispensable, and foster a culture of being needed.
 
So, how do you change this culture in your business? Start by creating systems, and reward your staff for following the systems. SMART goals help in this – because they are tangible, you can track your successes with them, and reward those who are productive versus obstructive. If you are interested in setting systems and learning more about SMART goals – contact IGNITE Business Planning Systems today!
Pithy Business Rule #2 (PBR) – Don’t Reward the Arsonists….