Firefighters are great… BUT???

We all would have come across “office firefighters”—those who swoop in to fix high-profile issues, save the day, and often get the lion’s share of recognition. Their actions are visible, immediate, and often impactful. But what about the silent guardians who work behind the scenes to ensure that those fires never ignite in the first place?

In every office, you will find individuals who meticulously plan, strategize and execute in a way that prevents problems from arising. Like the ones who anticipate customer needs much before they become complaints or the ones who ensure that the code is clean, reducing the likelihood of bugs and many other similar ones, who work like a well-designed firewall—silent, effective, and often preventing many fires even before they spark.

Working in a healthcare field I can totally relate to why prevention is often more effective than treatment. Infact the same principle applies to most of the other domains as well. Preventing a problem is usually less costly and less disruptive than fixing one. Yet, the architects of this stability rarely get the standing ovation they deserve. Why? Probably because it’s hard to appreciate the scale of a disaster that never happened.

But we should need to recognise and celebrate these unsung heroes as well. After all, in a world obsessed with action, the art of prevention is a rare skill set that deserves its own spotlight. So, Next time when you’re tempted to high-five the person who just put out a fire, give a nod to the one also who ensured that couple of other fires never got lit.