Do you ever have a conversation that just sticks with you?
For me, the discussion occurred in 2023.
We were navigating a large integration that included defining the operating model, a whole organization re-org, and launching an integrated IT system.
We leading three large changes on top of our day jobs.
We made progress but I had concerns the effort was taking a toll on the team.
In particular, I had a suspicion we were meeting deadlines but we weren’t doing things well.
Sitting down with one of our managers, I asked her thoughts if we were doing tasks well.
Without hesitation, she shared that everyone was exhausted, and we’ll likely have rework to later. On top of that, we were regularly revisiting decisions (further tiring the team).
Everything was a fire to fight, but we looked good to senior leadership.
The reason this discussion stuck with me, was I saw what happens when you have a firefighting culture.
You settle for good enough and perpetuate a cycle of deadline firefighting.
As I think about our clients, what I’ve learned is even if people say they abhor firefighting and chaos, there is an underlying addiction.
Yes, addiction.
When you meet a deadline and “get it done”, your brain gives you a hit of dopamine. It feels good. Then people want another deadline hit.
This is really challenging when leaders rise to higher levels, yet continue crave their deadline dopamine hit.
This promoted leader perpetuates a culture of firefighting.
The business stagnates and these addicted leaders cost $10,000s per year in attrition, disengagement, and lost productivity.
Seeing this over-reliance on firefighting as a costly addiction, illustrates that traditional approaches of workshops and courses are not the answer.
An alcoholic going to one meeting or workshop is unlikely to be cured.
We need a more sustained approach to alleviate the firefighting addiction and enable behavior change.
This is our approach with the Enluma AI app.
Participants and organizations identify practical actions through our proprietary 360 surveys. We then leverage AI to enable discussions, and practice improved behaviors.
Over the course of a few months, participants receive nudges and support and can partner with others on the platform to improve together.
This is the radical approach we need to take to combat firefighting addictions.
Looking back at the integration role, I wish our team had access to Enluma AI.
This would have spotlighted the “get it done” culture and identify practical steps to change.
For example, to reduce regularly revisiting decisions we could leverage pro-active information sharing to prevent data hoarding.
This combination of personalized insights with practical steps that increases the probability of behavioral change.
If this story resonates with you, learn more her on our website, or reach out to chat.
We’d love to connect and hear how firefighting is impacting your organization.