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In this episode of the podcast we are speaking with Brad Brown, Fire Chief of Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Alex Baszler, their performance and management reporting specialist. What gets me about Brad and Alex’s system isn’t just that they have boards to manage the department, it’s the more-than-decade of sustainability. Most workplace improvement initiatives flame out with the transition of personnel or leadership, but they've maintained and evolved their approach for over ten years.

This happens when visual management becomes so embedded how people relate to each other that decisions, problems, and even the mundane are expected to be visualized. This means that by default problems and solutions emerge collaboratively.

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Expecting Lasting Change

I can’t make this point enough. Your system needs to expect actions by team members that support the system. Your daily work needs to support the team, the work, the product, and the culture. If it doesn’t support it, then it isn’t helping.

For Alex and Brad, the sustainability of their system rests on two pillars.

First, unwavering support from leadership: Brad didn't just implement visual management, he participates in it. Every week, he answers the same four questions as everyone else: major accomplishments, key learnings, weekly focus, and what help he needs. The initial adoption of the system, years ago, rested on Brad personally showing he would help others when asked. You can delegate or you can participate.

Second, the boards were relevant to the people using them. The boards were so valuable that the team started improving them. Alex described how their boards evolved organically as new team members brought fresh perspectives or the needs of the team changed. People enhance useful systems.

Save Crisis Management for Real Crises

Managing your workflow shouldn't be a crisis, ~ Alex Baszler

"Managing your workflow shouldn't be a crisis," Alex said near the end of our conversation. This insight cuts to the heart of what makes the Grand Rapids Fire Department remarkable. The boards keep everyone informed about routine work. Project timelines, resource allocation, operational challenges, improvement, are visual, tracked and calmed. No one has to waste time figuring out where they are, everyone knows. This preserves everyone’s cognitive and emotional capacity for actual emergencies.

The logic is elegant. A fire department exists to handle genuine crises where lives hang in the balance. Why would they allow preventable workflow chaos to drain the energy and clarity needed for those moments? By visualizing the predictable work, they ensure they can respond with full focus when unpredictable emergencies arise.

Why are you any different?

Repeating Again…An Expectation of Visualization

We have this stuff all over the place!~ Brad Brown

In the video you’ll hear Brad say, "we have this stuff all over the place." He was celebrating the fact that visual management and Obeya have become so ingrained in their daily work that when decisions need to be made, there's an organizational expectation that they'll be visualized first.

They aren’t worried about frameworks or rules or “am I doing it right.” They are worried about saving lives and getting work done at the same time.

This represents a fundamental cultural shift from information hoarding to information radiating. Instead of knowledge trapped in email threads, management software, or individual minds, their systems make the invisible visible. Problems surface before they become crises. Routine work avoids becoming a problem. Opportunities for collaboration become apparent. People can offer help because they can see where it's needed.

Lessons for Every Organization

The Grand Rapids Fire Department's journey offers three crucial insights for any organization seeking sustainable improvement:

Start with leadership participation, not just support. Brad models visual management by simply using it. His personal board sits prominently in the hallway where everyone can see his commitments, challenges, and progress.

Design for evolution, not perfection. Their boards have changed dramatically over ten years because the team was empowered to improve what they encountered. The goal was never to create the perfect system, but to create a system that could become more perfect over time.

Focus on the real work, not the meta-work. Their visual management directly supports their mission: protecting the community. Every board, every sticky note, every huddle serves the ultimate purpose of being ready when someone needs help.

I’ve been talking to Brad for a long time now, watching how he runs a real enterprise with a lot more calm than anyone would expect. The Grand Rapids Fire Department have create a visual management approach that is humane, elegant, evolving, and sustainable work. When people can see what needs to be done, understand how their work connects to others', and know they have the support to act with confidence, extraordinary things become routine.

CALL TO ACTION: If this is interesting to you, you can hire me and Toni to help (just message me on substack or linkedin), or take a class at Modus Institute, or simply get a paid subscription to Humane Work here on substack (see above).

This is what we do and have done for decades, and what we work with others on. Simple, visual, humane strategies to fix the real problems of work.

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