Mind of Fire

06/12/2026

It's Friday. Payday. The ideal time to invest in your own personal development! Link to register located in the comments below.

We are nearing capacity on our 8-week Human Performance & Decision Making Program. Register now before we sell out.

This program starts during the first week of August. The Human Performance & Decision Making program was developed specifically for firefighters, officers, and leaders that wish to improve their decision making abilities as well as performance under stress and operationally.

You will receive:
-Weekly live class via webcast on Wednesdays at 8:00 PM EST.
-Sessions will be recorded and available for review by the end of each day.
-Interactive instruction led discussions and classroom learning experiences.
*-Guest instructors from the fire service that have shared their experience and lessons learned from the "real world".
-A copy of Mind of Fire and a companion workbook.
-8 weeks of applicable human performance and decision making knowledge.
Tuition: $300/student

Link to register located in the comments below.

06/11/2026

I am honored to be listed with these books and authors. The Fire Service has numerous talented, committed, and impassioned members that continually strive to improve our profession. I feel very fortunate to be recognized along with those on this list.

The contributions I've made in the fire service are solely a result of the relationships and support from my fellow firefighters, officers, mentors, and friends that have given their time, knowledge, and trust in me during my career.

Whether you're a new firefighter or a seasoned chief officer, these Better Every Shift-approved books offer insights to help you lead better, think sharper and perform at your best

06/11/2026

The fire service has enough problems outside the walls of the firehouse. There is no room to create more inside.

There's value in having a passion for your job, but it will never provide someone the right to decide what the fire service is supposed to be. A person's level of passion for their job doesn't qualify them to represent others. No matter how much a person loves their job; they can't define the standards of professionalism for an entire group of individuals.

It goes both way. People that are very passionate about their jobs may be viewed negatively or categorized as a squirrel or obsessed with the job. On the flip side, those people that don't feel nearly as passionate about their jobs are sometimes belittled or completely dismissed as having no value. Both of these behaviors can poison a department’s culture and destroy trust. Both can also erode the bond that creates "brotherhood" in an organization.

Unfortunately, some of the fire departments' loudest voices are contributing to the destruction. Many so-called "influencers," "social media personalities," and "sticker sellers," have figured out that anger is more profitable than peace. These people build their followings by telling firefighters to look down on their fellow firefighters, and to express disdain towards admin, volunteers, or anyone that contributes to the fire service differently than themselves. Divisiveness is now a commodity, and far too many people are making money off of dissatisfaction.

In reality, the only thing that brings every firefighter together is their desire to help people, and save lives. The variety of means in which this mission is accomplished allows different people to contribute in different ways. Some pursue education or training with passion. Others provide a great management presence or are good at dealing with people. Some excel at mentoring/leadership/problem solving. And some may never be the loudest voice in the department, but they continue to work hard, and do their part when it counts. All types of contributions matter.

The strength of our organization lies within our diversity (the grinders, thinkers, teachers, students, mentors and solid-handed workers). The division that occurs due to whether or not someone is perceived as "too into the job," or "not into it enough" is a distraction that weakens the overall culture of our organization.

It is important that excellence and accountability exist. However, these two principles should be used to promote the development of each individual rather than tear them apart. Firefighters don't require additional criticism from within our own ranks and especially from those that don’t even work for our department. What we need is to recognize the value of everyone’s contributions and encourage folks to develop further in every facet of the job.

When we prioritize respect above rhetoric, we move the fire service forward. Each firefighter is here to serve. Each firefighter is here to save lives. Value exists in multiple forms. Recognize the difference among your brothers and sisters. Develop the team. That’s how we maintain our strength.

06/10/2026

Plan b should not be seen as a failure. It is instead an essential element of plan a that serves to mitigate any issues and allows us to focus on action. Contingency planning helps reduce the psychological impact of unforeseen events by allowing you to adjust quickly without wasting time. Rather than viewing setbacks as failures, they are now opportunities for rapid learning and corrective action. If you’re going to fail, fail fast and adjust.

Tripwires are specific events or time limits that must not exceed during the ex*****on of your plan. Tripwires act as early warning systems, when they're reached it indicates that the original decision was incorrect and change needs to occur. This proactive approach ensures that you remain flexible and responsive to situations rather than stubbornly following through with a strategy that isn't working. This also helps prevent the sunk cost fallacy.

If our decisions do not yield success we shouldn't look at it as a failure but as a learning opportunity. Learning is a continuous process of figuring out what does and doesn't work. Each action and its results will provide valuable data to feed back into the decision making loop. By evaluating these results you can refine your mental models and enhance future decisions.

The best way to develop your decision making skills is to turn unknown into known by gathering info from failed decisions and making a more informed one. We can do this by trying something even though we know it won't work just so we can reduce uncertainty. The iterative process of action, evaluation, and adjustment is key to effectively making decisions and continued improvement.

06/08/2026

Our 8-Week Human Performance & Decision Making Course has VERY LIMITED SPACE REMAINING! Do not wait! Enroll today to make sure you don’t miss out! Registration link in comments.

• The course will begin the first week of August.
• Classes are live on-line each Wednesday at 20:00 (EST) but each will be recorded and sent out the next day.
• Each class includes instructor-led discussion as well as interactive learning.
• Guest speakers are invited to share their "real world" experience and lessons learned in the field.
• A complimentary copy of Mind of Fire. as well as the accompanying workbook are included in the tuition.
• Tuition is $300 per student.

06/07/2026

People will tell you "you've changed" as if it's a bad thing…..Well, no s**t.

Change is the entire purpose for which you live. Change occurs in learning. Change happens by adapting. Change comes from failing. Change results from recovering. Change results from getting new perspectives. And all of these things result in being a completely different person now than you were 5-10 years ago. So, if you're not changing, then you're simply repeating yourself. The worst possible thing would be to spend decades experiencing everything; successes, failures, hardships, etc., but still thinking the exact same way you thought 20 years ago. This isn't consistency. This is stagnation.

John Boyd also understood this when he created the OODA Loop. When developing Orientation (the ability to perceive and understand the world), one of the major influences upon our perception is past experiences. Each lesson learned, each mistake made, each hardship suffered alters how we perceive reality. Our experience should affect our orientation. We should grow because of our experiences.

When a firefighter has been on the job for twenty years, they shouldn't be thinking like a rookie. When a boss has been in their position a long time, they shouldn't be making decisions based on what they knew when they first got promoted. If your experiences don't shape your perspective, why do you want them?

Everything about the world changes; circumstances change; people change. That is the deal. So when someone tells you "you've changed," the best response would be “I hope so”.

06/06/2026

June 6th 1944.

Thousands of heroes from across the globe went head first into a nightmare with the hope of keeping us all free. I want to thank the heroes that fought and lost their lives on that fateful day.

The memories of the heroism of those that fought and lost their lives will live forever.

"The eyes of the world are upon you. It is hard to believe it has been this long since we started our journey to victory. There can be no compromise; there can be no substitution for full victory." -Dwight D. Eisenhower

These photos were taken at the D Day memorial in Bedford, Virginia. A truly impressive tribute to the courageous men who served that day.

06/06/2026

One of the greatest models for continuous improvements comes from an organization that you wouldn’t expect, Pixar Animation Studios. While many people view Pixar as a "fun" and "creative" work environment where they make animated movies with happy endings; their performance critique process is anything but. Their approach to giving and receiving feedback is bluntly honest and focused solely on improving, when it comes to critiquing performance, you’d better wear a helmet.

In pixar's braintrust process, each creator presents their incomplete project to other creators. Those other creators provide honest comments about what needs improvement. The purpose of the braintrust is to solve problems and reach an excellent end product. According to co-founder Ed Catmull, "the braintrust is a push toward excellence, and a means to eliminate mediocrity." He goes on to say, "all of our movies stink... Early on. And our job is to make them... Go, as I say, 'from suck to non-suck.'"

Can you envision a chief talking so openly about their organization? Can you envision a culture where the only thing you were striving for was to constantly get better?

The biggest obstacles to establishing a brain trust is creating an atmosphere where people feel safe discussing issues and people don’t get defensive. Your people need to know that when they point out something negative, they will not be retaliated against. Rank shouldn't impact which person's idea gets considered. Ideas can come from anywhere. The point of a braintrust isn't to assign blame; instead, the point is to find areas where improvement can occur before they continue to happen.

Regular feedback improves performance and identifies potential problems before they happen. Feedback and input also build trust; foster creativity; and reinforce continuous learning.

Pixar's braintrust proves that teams achieve greatness by working collaboratively, challenging their own assumptions and continually improving themselves. Ed Catmull says, “the journey to achieving greatness starts with recognizing the first iteration is never going to be the best, and finding the courage to improve upon it.”

06/05/2026

Working under pressure involves much more than being courageous, experienced, and having all the right skills. Working memory plays a major role as well. Working Memory is how our brains temporarily hold information and manipulate it to complete tasks.

Thinking of working memory like a whiteboard, you can write down information, group concepts together, and then erase what isn't relevant once new information comes in; working memory is just like that for the brain. We mentally hold plans, priorities, observations, and decisions while doing a job.

On every fireground the mental white board is constantly being rewritten with new information. For example, a firefighter could simultaneously remember the floor plan of the structure, the general area of the fire, radio communications, their assignment, their location, their air supply, and the ever changing situation around them. The bigger and more capable of holding information, the less likely we will feel overwhelmed.

However, one problem is that stress reduces the size of that white board. When we are stressed, our working memory is reduced and we are less able to hold onto information. Our working memory holds onto information until it is either used or written off because of an immediate concern. Therefore, it's common for firefighters who have a lot of pressure put upon them to miss a call over the radio, forget a task, miss an important clue, or have trouble thinking several steps ahead. More often than not it's not because of a lack of knowledge or experience; it's because their mental work space has been overcrowded due to high levels of stress.

Fortunately working memory can be increased through specific types of cognitive training. Just as physical exercise develops muscle mass in the body, cognitive training develops the brain's ability to develop and maintain information and processes. Examples of these programs include MasterMind Training.

Through repetition and practice with these training programs individuals can increase their working memory capacity and improve their efficiency. In turn firefighters and officers are able to handle more information while staying aware of their surroundings and make better decisions faster in fast paced situations. While there will always be some level of stress during firefighting operations, cognitive training will help ensure that the individual's mental whiteboard remains intact and operational when needed most.

06/03/2026

The fire service usually talks about the negative aspects of risk. The stories of what could have gone wrong are usually told first. The what if’s? The worst case scenarios. But there is also an upside to risk, opportunity. The opportunity to save lives and protect property. Risk is most commonly thought of as a bad thing because it is dangerous. However, risk is the cost you pay for the opportunity. The chance to save someone’s family member. Rescue their pet. Protect the home where all their memories were made.

If we change our viewpoint regarding risk and acknowledge the possible positives created by risk, then I believe we will see a transition from a cautious mindset to an active mindset. Instead of focusing on the negative possibilities of risk, we can begin to realize the opportunities that exist beyond the fear of risk. As we make this shift in mindsets, we empower firefighters to be confident in taking risks and that each time they do so, there is always an opportunity for something significant and impactful.

The realization of the positive side of risk allows firefighters to utilize its value to promote action and build resilience. In doing so, we can find the true significance of the role that risk taking plays both in our profession and in the community we serve.