One of my former mentors, Deputy Chief (Ret.) Jim Graham of the Chesterfield County (VA) Fire and EMS Department, was a huge proponent of the use of information, whether on a fireground operation, developing a new training program, or addressing budget reductions. One of his favorite sayings—one that stays with me to this day—was "We must constantly strive to become better at data-driven decision making, instead of following the 'I think, I feel, or I believe' model." However, he usually followed that up with the caveat that we should strive to ensure that we had good...

Read more