What is your organizational definition of strategy? Is it based on emergency response or administrative concepts? Until recently, my organization, like many others, was focused on a definition of strategy that was used only in conjunction with fireground tactics. I am not professing that strategy is not used in my organization on a daily basis by my fire chief when working in political situations, or even by my fellow administrative chief officers when attempting to accomplish a goal that is paramount to the success of their division. I am stating that, if questioned, many of the personnel from my organization would have correlated the definition of strategy and its implementation only to an emergency response application.
A paradigm shift. A change in our organizational application of strategy and more specifically strategic planning was necessitated by the construction of two major sporting venues in our jurisdiction. The first of the sporting venues is the Jobing.com Arena, which has a maximum seating capacity of 17,500, and second is the University of Phoenix Stadium, which can contain 73,000. Additionally, the University of Phoenix Stadium previously has hosted the 2007 Fiesta Bowl and 2007 Bowl Championship Series, and next year it will host the Fiesta Bowl and Super Bowl XLII. The introduction of these events has forced us to begin planning strategically for our service delivery at not only the venues during major events, but also throughout our jurisdiction before, during and after the events.
A role model to follow. The Phoenix Fire Department, with we share a contiguous border to the east, has developed a planning section within the organization. We have been fortunate to receive the spoils of their progressive nature not only with our recent need to develop special event plans, but also for a plethora of benefits that would take me an entire day to list since we entered the automatic aid system with the PFD more than 20 years ago.
PFD’s Planning Section not only has led us through the labyrinth of mega-event planning, but it has gently guided us through the complex and confusing intricacy of Incident Command System forms that are an enormous challenge for non-forest service personnel. Additionally, the PFD Planning Section has begun assisting fire departments in the Valley of the Sun to obtain I-300 and I-400 ICS Training. PFD is hosting the I-300 and I-400 ICS Training and providing all components of the course, including locations, materials, food and instructors. PFD is conducting the classes with nationally qualified Type I and II Incident Management Team personnel as instructors, providing a true learning environment for the students where real-life applications are integrated with the mandatory didactic information.
Everyday use. My organization successfully completed an accreditation re-evaluation in March. A mandatory component of the accreditation process is a strategic plan. After our accreditation review was completed, I attended a Center for Public Safety Excellence Standards of Cover (Basic) and Self-Assessment Workshop. I began to understand the process of completing annual reports for the accreditation process and the synergy that can be created by aligning a five-year strategic plan with the accreditation process. In this way, the fire chief has documentation that can support budgetary requests. If the requests are collaborated by the CPSE accreditation assessment, the fire chief now has validation by an outside agency that maintains their needs.
What is your strategy? Strategy and strategic planning should be applied in everyday administrative functions as well as on the fireground. If your organization is accredited through the CPSE, you can make your accreditation manager’s life easier by implementing and maintaining a strategic plan that aligns with your five-year accreditation review.
I will leave you with a quote on strategy from Sun Tzu: “Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” Let me know what you think about strategy and your organization’s strategic application.
