Thursday, August 31, 2023
If You Are Creative
If you are creative, you have to be conscious of timing. Surface the idea too early and it may trigger uneasiness. Surface it too late and people may fail to see its potential.
One strategy is to surface the idea in increments so it can be tried and tested. Later, when you announce the approach, they may yawn but that will be because it is already being done and you have stated the obvious.
Reality and Theory
The basic problem begins with our inability to order firefighters from central casting with a split-personality switch. If such a model was available, we could flip the switch in one position and produce an attack-trained, conditioned, and inclined worker who would be preprogrammed to aggressively and effectively maim and kill fire and actively solve any other physical problem. For routine, nonemergency times, like when the kids are sitting around the station watching educational TV and eating Waldorf salad, we could flip the switch in the other direction and get a sensitive, emoting, considerate individual who naturally and positively relates to his/her coworkers (and everyone else). What happens in the real world is we get a complete, connected, unswitched person, who as a firefighter is typically highly inclined and ready (thankfully) to do the tough business of our business. We quickly fall into the profile of being a firefighter and become a reflection of that work (adrenaline directed, intense, lots of camraderie, always different, exciting); simply, if you work in the street you become the street. Our challenge is to creatively combine the somewhat opposite sets of characteristics represented by the two sides of the switch to get the most out of both sets of very necessary inclinations and capabilities.
- Alan Brunacini, Essentials of Fire Department Customer Service
Wednesday, August 30, 2023
Free Speech in Canada?
City Journal: Ray Arora on the Jordan Peterson case.
Beyond the Headlines
Penn State class on police shootings.



