Competition Breeds Results

Competition seems to have become a dirty word in today’s fire service.  For some folks, merely mentioning the word “competition” instantly turns you into a “cowboy” or “reckless”.  Other negativity towards competition can probably partially attributed to the “everybody gets a trophy” mindset that runs rampant through society.  God forbid somebody be revealed as inferior to another.  News flash: everybody has various strengths and weaknesses and rarely does somebody excel at everything they do. Competition has existed within the United States’ fire service since it’s establishment.  With that said, not all forms of competition within the fire service have been productive.  However, I believe good competition breeds good results.

By the very nature of our work, firefighters must be competitive.  Theoretically, we are always in competition when performing our duties.  When extinguishing fires, we are in competition with the fire and the BTU’s being produced.  We utilize our GPM’s to, hopefully, come out ahead of the competition (the fire).  Our competition may also come in the form of a door that needs to be forced, a roof that needs to be opened, a dash that needs to be displaced, a trench that needs to be shored, a reinforced masonry floor that needs to be breached, or a hoarding house that needs to be searched.  Regardless of the competition an emergency incident presents, firefighters must rise to the challenge and come out ahead of the competition.

Competition between people can be productive too.  Competition gives people something to work towards, helps maintain motivation, and, in the words of Traditions Training’s Lieutenant Doug Mitchell, “it raises the curve”.  These are all positive things that will keep the fire service moving in the right direction.  Before I got promoted to Technician at work, a shift mate and I would move up as drivers when the Technicians were off.  When this would occur, he would usually drive the Engine and I would usually drive the Truck.  If the Engine and Truck responded to the same incident, we had a competition to see who could turn out the quickest.  If possible, upon arrival we’d compete to see if he could establish a water supply, or I could deploy the aerial, the quickest.  This was good, healthy competition that made us more effective as a company and as individuals.  Turning out quickly, knowing your response areas, running lines, and deploying portable ladders are all skills that can be improved upon using competition as a motivator.  With that said, there is a huge difference between good, productive competition and reckless, unproductive competition.

The fire service needs to embrace good, productive competition as it will assist in improving efficiency and effectiveness.  Competition will expose areas we need to better ourselves, as individuals and as companies, and will reduce complacency.  Good, productive competition will breed positive results!