Using Social Science to Understand and Improve Wildland Fire Organizations
Using Social Science to Understand and Improve Wildland Fire Organizations

Author: Gregory Larson

Publisher:

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 92

ISBN-13:

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The wildland fire community has spent the past decade trying to understand and account for the role of human factors in wildland fire organizations. Social research that is relevant to managing fire organizations can be found in disciplines such as social psychology, management, and communication. However, such research has been published primarily for scientific and business audiences, and much of the fire community has not been exposed to it. Here, we have compiled and organized knowledge from a variety of social science disciplines so that it can be used to improve organizational practices related to firefighter and public safety, to assess the effectiveness of safety campaigns, and to improve firefighter safety trainings. This annotated reading list summarizes approximately 270 books, articles, and online resources that address scientific and management concepts helpful for understanding the human side of fire management. The first section, Human Factors and Firefighting, introduces readers to key workshops and writings that led to the recognition that human factors are prime ingredients of firefighter safety. The second section, Foundations for Understanding Organizations, consists of social science research that provides a foundation for understanding organizational dynamics. This section includes readings on decision making and sensemaking, organizational culture, identification and identity, leadership and change, organizational learning, and teams and crews. The third section, Understanding Organizations in High Risk Contexts, explores organizations that deal regularly with risk, uncertainty and crisis. This section includes readings on risk and uncertainty, high reliability organizing, and crisis communication. The publication concludes with Internet resources available for those interested in the management of fire organizations.

Crew Cohesion, Wildland Fire Transition, and Fatalities
Crew Cohesion, Wildland Fire Transition, and Fatalities

Author: Jon J. Driessen

Publisher:

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 20

ISBN-13:

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Describes the role played by crew cohesion in the deaths of firefighters in three firefighting tragedies: the Mann Gulch Fire, the South Canyon Fire, and the Thirtymile Fire. Two types of cohesion are involved, the cohesion within a crew (intracrew cohesion) and the cohesion among crews (intercrew cohesion). Cohesion is a way of describing how closely people feel they are tied to a group. Studies of field crews in the Forest Service have shown that the less cohesion crews had, the more likely they were to be involved in accidents. Meanwhile, studies of wildland firefighter fatalities during the 1990s have shown that nearly threefourths of the fatalities occurred when fires were making the transition from relatively small to relatively large fires, or shortly after they had become relatively large fires. The transition is often sudden, when it is described as a "blow up." Driessen recommends studies that would allow the different types of transition fires to be classified. This classification system would allow crew leaders and fire managers to communicate clearly when fires are making the transition from relatively small fires to relatively large fires. The studies would also identify tactics that successful crew leaders use to build the essential level of crew cohesion when fires are in transition.

How Business Leaders Avoid Conflict (Collection)
How Business Leaders Avoid Conflict (Collection)

Author: Michael A. Roberto

Publisher: FT Press

Published: 2013-08-08

Total Pages: 470

ISBN-13: 0133577775

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Why Great Leaders Don't Take Yes for an Answer, Second Edition offers a powerful framework every leader can use to promote honest, constructive dissent and skepticism; test their assumptions; more thoroughly consider "best alternatives"; make better choices, and align organizations to act on their decisions. In this new edition, Roberto presents new cases from Google, Ford, Intuit, and others, plus expands coverage to more deeply illuminate his decision-making approach. Offering both positive and negative examples, he presents a well rounded view of how to determine when "yes" means "yes," when it doesn't, and what to do when it doesn't. Roberto explains why "good process entails the astute management of the social, political, and emotional aspects of decision making" -- in other words, why effective leaders are well served by carefully "deciding how to decide." ¿ Know What You Don’t Know: How Great Leaders Prevent Problems Before They Happen lays out the key skills and capabilities required to ensure that problems do not remain hidden in your organization. It explains how leaders can become effective problem finders, unearthing problems before they destroy an organization. The book explains how leaders can become an anthropologist, going out and observing how employees, customers, and suppliers actually behave. It then goes on to present how they can circumvent the gatekeepers, so they can go directly to the source to see and hear the raw data; hunt for patterns, including refining your individual and collective pattern recognition capability; "connect the dots" among issues that may initially seem unrelated, but in fact, have a great deal in common; give front-line employees training in a communication technique; encourage useful mistakes, including creating a "Red Pencil Award"; and watch the game film, where leaders reflect systematically on their own organization's conduct and performance, as well as on the behavior and performance of competitors.

Why Great Leaders Don't Take Yes for an Answer
Why Great Leaders Don't Take Yes for an Answer

Author: Michael A. Roberto

Publisher: Pearson Education

Published: 2005-06-06

Total Pages: 396

ISBN-13: 0132716461

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Harvard Business School's Michael Roberto draws on powerful decision-making case studies from every walk of life, showing how to promote honest, constructive dissent and skepticism; use it to improve decisions; and align organizations behind those decisions. Learn from disasters like the Space Shuttle Columbia and JFK's Bay of Pigs Invasion, from successes like Sid Caesar and Bill Parcells, from George W. Bush's decision-making after 9/11. Roberto complements his compelling case studies with extensive new research on executive decisionmaking. Discover how to test and probe a management team; when 'yes' means 'yes' and when it doesn't; and how to build real consensus that leads to action. Gain important new insights into managing teams, mitigating risk, promoting corporate ethics, and much more.

On the Fireline
On the Fireline

Author: Matthew Desmond

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2008-11-15

Total Pages: 380

ISBN-13: 0226144070

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In this rugged account of a rugged profession, Matthew Desmond explores the heart and soul of the wildland firefighter. Having joined a firecrew in Northern Arizona as a young man, Desmond relates his experiences with intimate knowledge and native ease, adroitly balancing emotion with analysis and action with insight. On the Fireline shows that these firefighters aren’t the adrenaline junkies or romantic heroes as they’re so often portrayed. An immersion into a dangerous world, On the Fireline is also a sophisticated analysis of a high-risk profession—and a captivating read. “Gripping . . . a masterful account of how young men are able to face down wildfire, and why they volunteer for such an enterprise in the first place.”—David Grazian, Sociological Forum “Along with the risks and sorrow, Desmond also presents the humor and comaraderie of ordinary men performing extraordinary tasks. . . . A good complement to Norman Maclean's Young Men and Fire. Recommended.”—Library Journal