Combustible

Episode 090 - The Pathfinder Part II

The CTP Group

We think that the Pathfinder concept is such an important one, that we actually recorded two separate episodes trying to get it right. But each episode went different directions, so they both ended up being valuable to the discussion.

Episode 089 - Damned Sweet

The CTP Group

What do a fire recruit, a 70’s sitcom, and Walt Disney have to do with regret?

Episode 088 - The Pathfinder

The CTP Group

Every organization has those persons who push the organization from the inside. They advocate passionately for change, but while they’re doing it they can cause discomfort for those around them. They challenge long-held assumptions. They champion new technologies and strategies. They hold up a beacon and ask everyone else to follow into unchartered territory.

It’s important work to any successful organization, but it can be exceptionally frustrating for those who are either appointed by the organization, or those that choose all on their own to be a Pathfinder. Beating a path through the wilderness is hard work, and it isn’t for just anyone.

Episode 087 - The Ship of Theseus

The CTP Group

This isn’t really an outtake; it’s just a short take on a topic that wasn’t really large enough to devote an entire episode to. Bill, all by his lonesome, talks into the mic about the paradox of The Ship of Theseus and what that means for organizational identity…and maybe all of us.

Episode 086 - Be Wrong or Do Nothing?

The CTP Group

A listener asked us: “At what point is a wrong decision actually worse than no decision at all?”

It’s a great starting point for a roving conversation that gets into whether results matter in that calculus. We also rehash our earlier debate on the nature of luck in the fire service (Episode 082), what the role of intent is, how Pabel dissects an incident moving forward and Bill goes backwards, and the difference between being wrong and making a mistake.

Episode 085 - On Hallowed Ground with Eriks Gabliks

The CTP Group

The National Fire Academy is the home of the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial; hallowed ground for any firefighter. To borrow a phrase from President Lincoln at the dedication of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery in Gettysburg, PA (just 12 miles north of the NFA), the memorial on the NFA campus reminds us “that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion.”

While Bill was at the National Fire Academy for two weeks in Emmitsburg, Maryland this last August, he sat down with Eriks Gabliks, the Superintendent of the National Fire Academy. They talked about what the National Fire Academy is, what it isn’t, just how you start out as a volunteer firefighter and end up as superintendent, some of the more popular myths about the campus, why every firefighter should attend a class there at least once, and, of course, we give Eriks The Questions.

Episode 084 - For Bill Smith, A Battle Buddy

The CTP Group

On June 6, 2021, Baldwin County Sheriff’s Deputy Bill Smith gave his life while saving others who got caught in a rip current off the Alabama shore. Two of our podcast crew (Shane and Bill V.) worked for Bill Smith for years before Bill retired as Deputy Chief of Operations for Dekalb County and went on to his second career in law enforcement. Receiving the news that Bill died while saving others was a shock to both of them, but not a surprise since that was very much who Bill Smith was.

Last fall, Bill Smith sent Shane and (Combustible) Bill an article about the former Sergeant Major of the Army Daniel A. Dailey’s leadership tips. We’ve decided for this episode, as a tribute to Bill Smith, that we would discuss each leadership tip one at a time.

So, this episode is dedicated to Bill Smith, one of the best firefighters and best leaders Shane and Bill ever knew. And a true “Battle Buddy.”

Episode 083 - What's Better: To Be Liked or Respected?

The CTP Group

As is the case with many of our episodes, we didn’t set out to make an episode about this. It actually was just a spirited conversation that we were having when we realized we should hit the record button.

Is it better to be liked or respected? What is the relationship between the two? And what are the advantages of being liked, respected, or even both? Can you truly be both?

Episode 082 - Firefighter Luck

The CTP Group

How do we as firefighters deal with luck? How honest are we about what part luck plays in our successes? More specifically, how much do we count on the same luck at our next fire?

That’s where we start anyway, and we don’t exactly see eye to eye about it in the beginning. But that discussion moves to a very open conversation about how we evaluate our performance on fire scenes, and the process by which each of us thinks we should be judging ourselves.

Episode 081 - What Do You Do When You Don't Get Promoted?

The CTP Group

You make the case that you’re the best person for the next step up; only you don’t get chosen. What do you do then? When does a natural amount of disappointment turn into an unhealthy perception of being slighted? How hard is it to get behind the person who got promoted instead of you? And what about those folks who choose to burn the organization down when they aren’t promoted?

In this episode, we discuss what we each personally have done after not getting chosen, what we wish we did better after past promotional disappointments, and how we each hope to process disappointments that are in our futures.