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‘Do the next right thing right’: Kevin Sofen talks tech fundamentals

The IAFC’s technology advisor encourages fire service leaders to apply this simple mantra to embracing new tools

New tools and technology can feel daunting, particularly if you already feel behind the curve, but the opportunities are endless if you can embrace a learning mindset that focuses on simply doing the next right thing right – fundamentals first, then baby steps. For example, when someone suggests a new tool, start by changing a knee-jerk “no” to a more open-minded “maybe,” then take another step, even watching a single video about the new technology. That’s the advice from technology advisor Kevin Sofen, who has spent more than a decade making connections between fire service organizations and industry to help fire departments implement new technology and data management tools. We dig into all this and more:

  • New innovations, like AI, satellite communications and drones
  • Top sessions from the IAFC’s Technology Summit International
  • How to involve more seasoned members without expecting them to be tech “champions”
  • Reframing the phrase “death by a thousand cuts” to “solutions by a thousand little things” for technology
  • Shifting the mindset from having to use tech tools to wanting to use tech tools

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Previously on the Better Every Shift Podcast