Are You a Firefighter or an Architect?

Tell me if this sounds familiar: you go into the office and are immediately hit with a problem to solve. Whatever to-do list you had for your morning goes out the window because this new thing is important, and you have to take care of it. As soon as it’s done and you start to get back to what you thought you’d be doing for today, something else pops up and you have to go manage that. By the end of the day, you’ve jumped from problem to problem to problem ... and if you’re really honest, you know that tomorrow will be more of the same.

This is what happens when you manage like you’re a firefighter.

While it might feel like you’re making progress –– after all, you’re constantly busy! You’re getting things done! Your to-do list is ever-populating with more and more tasks! 

Firefighting isn’t bad…but it should be the exception, not the rule.

It’s important to be able to respond to situations as they arise, and sometimes you need to jump in with your firehose and take care of things. But that should be an occasional event, not your way of managing every day.

Working for a manager who’s always in firefighter mode leaves your team on edge, just waiting for the next call to come through, the next emergency to deal with. It can actually create a pseudo-trauma response, where your team gets an adrenaline hit whenever you pop up in their inbox, and it’s not in a good way.

To be clear, a lot of managers who live in firefighter mode are doing it with the very best of intentions. They want to be present and proactive with their team, and they love jumping in to help solve problems, all of which is great. But if that becomes your main management mode, being good at tactical work, you’ll not only burn yourself out but your team too. Plus, you’ll rob your team of development opportunities, and find it difficult to accomplish anything big picture, long-term or strategic.

That’s where architecting comes in.

Managers who show up with architect energy are planful and intentional. They deliberately take time to regularly pause, review what’s going on, set goals for the short, mid, and long-term, and then work backwards to incorporate those into their yearly schedule.

Taking the time to step back, look at the bigger picture, and then build some structure into the year for you and your team is critical for accomplishing your goals, not to mention the morale of your team.

As a manager of a team, it’s better to lean being an architect (proactive management) than firefighting (only putting out fires).

How can you develop your inner architect? Try this.

Whether you naturally trend more towards firefighting or architecting, it’s always possible to develop more facility with architecting, and it doesn’t have to be a massive change right out the gate. 

— Start by setting aside a little time and do a review of where your team or projects are at now. Then think about where you’d like them to be 12 months from now. What developmental milestones will they need to hit along the way to reach that goal? 

— Then set up pre-planned meetings along the way so you can check in and see how things are progressing and –– this is the important part –– stick to them.

— If you’ve been in firefighter mode for a long time it can be really easy to go into a quarter with the best of pre-planning intentions, then drop the plan as soon as anything comes up. Instead, when something does come up, pause, and ask yourself if you could possibly delegate it. If so, do it. If someone comes to you with a problem to solve, try asking them what they think the next step should be. Figure it out together, then have them give you an update once they’ve tried it. 

— If it’s helpful, you can even get a physical object to remind you to take that pause instead of jumping back in, something like a big heavy paperweight can be a great visual reminder to slow down and respond, rather than react. 

You’re not going to be perfect at this right off the bat, and that’s fine. But the more you practice, and the more accountability you build in for yourself, the more you’ll learn to work with your architect side –– and the happier and more productive you and your team will be!

Of course, I’m always here to help.

Join my Manager Training Series, where we go much more in-depth about firefighters and architects, or find out how else you can work with me here.