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Frequently Asked Questions
What prompted you to write 'What Do I Do When I Get There? A New Manager's Guidebook'?
Rod Collins -
The genesis came from a training for new Fire Business Advisors.
My part of the training was a discussion of the duties and responsibilities of the FBA. (The older terminology was “comptroller.”) As I prepared for the training, I took the typical bureaucratic approach: I made multiple copies of job descriptions and role statements. But as I was driving to the training site, it struck me that none of the material I had with me would be of any real value. The new FBA still wouldn’t know what to do.
When I arrived I put the job descriptions and other materials in stacks on a back table and told the class they were welcome to any, some or none of the material.
Then I dug into my carry case and took out a copy of a diary I had kept of my activities on an earlier large wildfire. I started by saying, “This is what I do when I work as a Fire Business Advisor on large fires.”
I proceeded to relate in very specific terms the steps I took, who I talked to and why, what I looked for, information I wanted and who had it, who I was working for (the unit manager, of course…not the Incident team), why I was there as an FBA.
At the end of the training one lady came up to the podium and said, “Thank you. I had no idea of what I should do. Now at least I won’t look like a fool when I get there.”
That started an examination of the training I had been blessed with throughout my life. I concluded that when it comes to technical tasks we know how to train people. However, when it comes to the softer subjects like managing and supervising people we aren’t as clear about the actions of good managers. So I set out to create a first-time manager’s book that followed the same pattern I used in the FBA training. Hence, the title “What Do I Do When I Get There.”
“Spider Silk” was my first effort to create a novel-length story based on a police officer I knew and liked. In real life he carried a big walking stick, no gun, had a big white chow dog, and maintained the peace in the small town where I attended college. It was a peaceful place in a much tamer era.
The setting eluded me until I finally just used the town of Lakeview, Oregon, an area that remains the site of the three best years of my life.
Stone Fly is the second novel in what has grown into a four book series, with “Bloodstone” and “Mariah’s Song,” trailing along behind.
