The People, Process, & Progress Podcast - Another Adaptation of Kipling's "If" for Planning Section Chiefs

Episode Date: February 11, 2020

A re-interpretations of Rudyard Kipling's masterpiece "If", with focus on All-Hazards Planning Section Chiefs.

This weekend I let the creative juices flow a little bit. Continued the inspiration from Kipling's poem, If. I had adapted that for project managers. Please check that out. I've also adapted that for my brother and sister, All Hazards Planning Section Chiefs. This is Kevin Pinnell, host of the People Process Progress podcast. Thank you for listening, subscribing, leaving reviews.

If you like this, if you enjoy an episode or the series, even the backlogs from between the slides, please share them with your friends, family, whomever. Here is my insight adapted in the format of Kipling's If for all hazards planning checks and chiefs. If you can guide the team through the process while about you are unsure what to do if you believe in the method when others want to go askew but adapt and adjust to help them through if you can facilitate discussion but not

jump in or try to dictate tactics because you're not ops, or fill out forms before objectives are complete, and do all this through objective eyes. If you can plan but not make documents your master, if you can help but not have to be in charge, if you can prepare contingencies for the worst disaster and be ready if the worst comes to bear. If you can check folks in and account for them all, but not depend on pre-printed rosters, or be ready at the last minute to change the plan and start again tomorrow in a brand new cycle. If you can empower your unit's leaders and let them lead somewhat hands-off, and fail and have the crucial conversations,

and take ownership because you're the boss. If you can push yourself for the late-night printings, to prepare a finished product when all are asleep, and lean on your section when you've almost nothing left except the resolve in you that says we must if you can brief the crowds and speak with confidence or talk to mayor's but not talk too much if neither naysayers nor armchair planners can upset you if your units can rely on you but not depend too much if you can work through the critical incident with poise and confidence and trust, yours is to help the special event

or disaster, and which is more, you'll be a plan chief, my friend. I hope you enjoyed this reading. As I wrote this, as I thought about if, as I looked at them side to side and went verse for verse, I pulled through all the various emotions that come with being a planning section chief and working a special event and the long time you have and the politics and the egos and the silos you have to break through and contrast that with a critical incident where you try and find someone and it doesn't work out or you show up to help get pizza and port-a-johns

at a fire and I think this poem, this writing, this captures the sentiment of being a all-hazards planning section chief where everyone's going to look to you and depend on you and that is a great thing but you have to be strong in your resolve, and your knowledge, and your skill set, and understand that things will change, that the process could be messy, but that you are going to be there, and you are going to be strong, and you are going to rely on your teammates, and that you can step back and not have to dictate the plan, but also keep people on track and communicate thank you so much to all the people out there that are listening that are working with others that put others first and take care of themselves thank

you for those that that ferry other people through and shepherd them through the process whether it's a project or the planning P or Six Sigma. And thank you to everyone out there that's helped me make progress. I hope this helps you kind of consider and contemplate how you make progress as a planning section chief in particular and on your incident management team. I wish you all the best and Godspeed.