KNOW WHEN TO DROP YOUR FIRE EQUIPMENT
Tuesday, February 9th, 2010
During this morning’s monthly networking meeting at 5WPR, Laurence Haughton, a New York Times bestselling author, told an inspirational story that serves as a great lesson to entrepreneurs.
The story which captivated twenty of us:
In 1949, 13 firefighters lost their lives at Mann Gulch. In 1994, 14 more firefighters lost their lives under similar conditions at South Canyon. In both cases, these 23 men and four women were overrun by exploding fires when their retreat was slowed because they failed to drop the heavy tools they were carrying. By keeping their tools, they lost valuable distance that they could have covered more quickly if they had been lighter. All 27 perished within sight of safe areas. The question is, why did the firefighters keep their tools?
The imperative, “drop your tools or you will die,” is something businesses today should watch, and know. “Dropping one’s tools is a proxy for unlearning, for adaptation, for flexibility, in short, for many of the dramas that engage organizational scholars,” according to Haughton.
Apparently, Karl E. Weich studied the conditions for smokejumpers during tragically difficult fires, and throughout interviews discovered that smokejumpers who survived very dangerous fires were those who dropped their equipment in the midst of the fire. The smokejumpers who held onto their equipment were killed, and those who dropped their equipment survived.
Lesson for entrepreneurs: Know when to drop heavy unnecessary baggage, and always be prepared to adapt to situations as they develop.
Interesting food for thought for this owner of a PR agency.




