I was thinking the other day after I wrestled with posting my blog that there are probably a dozen guys at work I could call to answer my question as to what was up with my computer. In my frustration, I was thinking, I am pretty competent with a computer for a 44-year old guy who still types with two or three fingers, yet it seems like some of the people I work with run circles around me when it comes to troubleshooting this stuff.

The first computer I was assigned at work was an ancient HP and we used WordPerfect 4.2. It was 1988 and I had just taken the job of Assistant Chief for our EMS system. My first task was to develop a standard operating procedures manual from where none previously existed. Talk about learning from your mistakes; very early one morning, after having been plugging away on the manual for at least 50 pages since dinnertime, I noticed the power cord dangling precipitously from the outlet. When I went to push it in, I created a surge and the computer shut off. That evening I learned the phrase “save early and often”. I repeat it daily.

Since then, I taught myself how to create spreadsheets and develop graphs. I learned my way around PowerPoint and began to dabble in creating databases, eventually graduating to some webpage development. With rare exception, though, it was largely trial-and-error. I find that I am pretty willing to take chances while playing around with a new program and I haven't been bitten too many times.

But why would I think that my 20-something counterparts would be any better at figuring out what was wrong than I was? Because "all" 20-year olds can run a computer? I admit, I caught myself making a generalization, which is something I find terribly insulting. It's something that I see happening on a daily basis in my world, as we, like countless other generations, struggle with the boundless energy and ideals that our younger counterparts seem to be blessed with, and assume that because we did things one way, the next generation should see it the same way and follow along without question.

When I look around at the people I am associated with, a bunch of firefighters who are what I consider the “new breed”, I remember what I was like at that age and I wonder what the hell they see in me. Some of my most competent and reputable officers sport some serious ink; I have a “soul patch” that I started wearing after a nasty ski injury and I have never shaved it off and a good number of my “new breed” firefighters also have the similar tuft of hair under the lower lip. I share a taste for bands like Rage Against The Machine (although I don’t really share RATM’s politics, I love that energy), and as I look around at these guys, I find that it must seem strange having a 44-year old in their midst that in some ways hasn’t really grown up.

However, I travel in some pretty serious circles, if I may say so myself. I serve on several boards and committees, I work closely with elected officials at the national, state, and local levels, and I speak to people about things like leadership and management and strategic planning; things I didn’t have a lot of interest in when I was twenty-five.

It occurs to me that with all of my efforts to “talk to the demographic” whenever I work, that maybe I haven’t done so much of that here on the Firefighter Nation. Although the topics I share are ones that I have a passion for, I don't think my writing style is really reaching the people I think I need to reach. After all, there’s a lot of love for things fast and furious, for sharing YouTube clips, and for firefighters who drive hot cars. I’ve had the same Isuzu Trooper for nine years now and although I’ve found some cool video online, I’m just not into spending hours upon end surfing through the zillions of gigabytes of information out there to find something funny. I don’t even have a subscription to Maxim, although I think it’s a pretty good read. But I need to approach my subjects differently and use language that is more like my audience, and I think I lose some people with some of the analysis.

There is a need for saying what I have said to you all in my blog since I first posted. There are a lot of young firefighters and emergency personnel on here who may not know it yet, but they will be Chief of Department someday. Some of them will write revolutionary things that will stand us old fogies on our heads. And although it seems strange, just one of those viral videos out there may spark an idea that will create change in our industry like none has ever seen. And the things I say, well, they are true.

I can’t remember if I ever posted this, but back in the early ‘80’s, I had the opportunity to rub elbows with some of the firefighter rock stars of our time. I was blessed to work at a department that was very progressive and being a resort community, was a prime spot for people like Alan Brunacini, Greg Noll, or some of the other recognized name-brands of our time to visit and teach a seminar. One of those people was Chief Harry Diezel of Virginia Beach; he taught a fire service management seminar and I hung on his every word. Some of the ideas he had were, well, visionary. He didn’t teach out of those red manuals I had read over and over again; he quoted Sun Tzu and Drucker and talked about breaking paradigms WAY before anyone I ever heard. He talked about a guy I had never heard of before named Deming and a theory of quality management and talked about building cohesive teams. He was way out there for that period in our lives and it’s amazing how everything he said then has come to fruition.

I think it’s important for me to be visionary, and it’s even more important for me to use this medium, here on the Nation, and so conveniently available through WebChief’s hard work. It is an excellent venue because it is where the "next generation" gets their information, as well as allowing me to gain ideas for my own visions, and likewise, to share what I have seen and what I continue to see ahead, given the experience I have had and the credibility I have earned
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What I think is amazing and also amusing (in a good way), is that I have discovered that some of these visionary chiefs, people who have made sweeping changes and revolutionized our business, are people who are hanging out in the background on FirefighterNation. They continue to seek information from each of us, listening for new trends and watching for new ways to learn. These are in some cases, chiefs that are certainly older than I am (no disrespect intended) and I have been contacted by some of them over time to let me know they read something I wrote on here. Their ability to adapt and seek innovative ways to get information continues to impress me.

There are amazing things we can learn in any venue, they just present themselves differently. In some places, information pulses through and you have to watch as it flashes through quickly to make sure you don’t miss something. The energy is astounding and the youthfulness of it all, encouraging. The next generation of chiefs is learning the process of networking already, something we had to do years ago by traveling across the nation to seminars or schools, and certainly not at the rate we enjoy here.

In other places, calmer, more sedate discussions are occurring, by no means any less important or innovative, but just different. But what makes it amazing is that in any case, learning is occurring every moment if you take the time to find it, keep your eyes tuned to see it, and keep your mind open to absorb and process it.

I promise to do a better job of talking to the people I meet here in the language they speak and without judgment or criticism, and understanding that in sharing, they are opening their minds to my very foreign world as well. I hope that we can continue to learn from each other.