I have not posted a blog for some time and I have a good reason. 10 days ago I took an exam for a professional designation in my industry and the last 6 weeks of spare time has been consumed with studying. The exam was an all encompassing challenge exam covering four separate courses. I should have taken 6 to 8 months of preparation but to be fair, I only learned I could challenge the courses in December and I did not receive all the material until March. When the box of thick binders arrived all I could think was ‘what have I gotten myself into this time’.  There was a lot of material and as many of these courses go, much of the information was of little value. Nevertheless, it was a hoop to jump through to give me at least a little bit lf credibility. Both the information and the designation will become another tool in my professional tool box.

There was many a colleague that questioned why I was taking the exam. None of my clients are aware that the designation exists so it is not like it is used as a benchmark in selecting a qualified professional of my type. But to me, it is not about the designation. I do not need the designation, but you never know when such an achievement will come in handy. In fact, many of my work peers question the effort because they have never stepped back to consider why they may need it.

I will discuss how drills fit into all this in a moment, but first a word about fire. Just bear with me and hopefully it will become clear. Or not.

A Bit About Fire

There are, as you may be aware, four classes of fires. Class A fires are fuelled by ordinary combustible material such as wood; Class B fires are fuelled by flammable liquids and oils such as gasoline or tar; Class C are fuelled by electricity; and a Class D by flammable metals. As you can imagine, each class of fire requires a different type of retardant. When we think of fighting a fire, however, our mind generally turns to water, probably because this is what firefighters pour onto burning buildings from the hoses on their fire trucks. But as any fire fighter would know, water does not work with all fires.

The reason why water is generally such an effective fire retardant is because in most cases it does a very effective job of cooling and smothering. Fire requires the three contributors of a type of fuel, oxygen and ignition. Water removes oxygen and the ignition capability of wood and many other ordinary combustibles. The problem is, water causes more problems if you try to douse an electrical fire or one of burning liquid fuel. This is because of two other characteristics of water that work against you. Water conducts electricity, and it is heavier than gasoline. Consequently, if you pour water on an electrical fire, all you do is provide a conduit for the electricity to spread where ever the water is. With gasoline, you risk spreading the burning gasoline over the surface of the water which can come in contact with other combustible materials in different locations.

This is why there are different classes of fire extinguishers. Some contain water, others an aqueous film, still others CO2, halogenated gases or even dry chemicals. C02 is interesting because it does not leave any residue the way foam or dry chemicals do, and it douses the fire by displacing the oxygen. The problem is, if anybody is trapped in the fire they will also suffocate along with the fire. Dry chemicals are used to combat Class D fires but they are highly corrosive and leave a hard residue – of course, you have to choose between the better of two evils.

Things Are Complicated

So what is the point of all this? Fires, like most things in life, are complicated. There is rarely a one-size-fits-all, and ignorance can be very dangerous. Water should never be used to douse a grease fire in a kitchen for example. Just the simple knowledge that there are four classes of fires will go a long way to directing what measures to take. Also, knowing as a result that there are different types of fire extinguishers will help you know what to buy for your home, your restaurant, or your metal fabrication factory.

And now it is time to try to bring us back to my title. Nobody needs a drill. What they need is a hole. The problem is, you cannot drive up to the local hardware store and purchase holes. Consequently, we go to the store to buy a drill so we can make a hole. It comes down to having the right tool for the job. Unfortunately, often we do not know what the right tool should be.  As the saying goes, we often do not know what we do not know.

The problem is, once we have convinced ourselves that we do not need a drill, and we pronounce the many reasons why drills are not holes, it is difficult to reverse directions and accept that drills may not be holes, but they are the most effective way to get a hole. And this takes us back to the fire extinguisher. I know, my ADHD is in high gear today.

Dangers of Ignorance

In my line of work, I am often faced with someone who has just enough information to make them dangerous. We had a board member of a home owners association (known as a Strata Council in British Columbia) who was told that water should not be used to extinguish an oil fire. This same board member grew up with fire extinguishers in the kitchen that were filled with water. The problem is, he did not know or even want to know that there are many varieties of fire retardants and was convinced that he knew all he needed to know about the subject.

The fire department wrote a ticket for the building sighting that there was not a fire extinguisher in the amenity room kitchen and this board member instructed our office, the agents for the strata corporation, to disregard the notice because, in his mind, the fire department was ignorant.

What made matters worse, is that the rest of the board members always deferred to this person’s alleged expertise so the kitchen went without a fire extinguisher. This board member resolutely did not want a drill.

In my insurance days, I had two experiences with people who did not want drills, each with devastating results. One young couple had just purchased a new home and it was my task to sell them life insurance to protect their mortgage. The husband’s response was that he knew lots of people who had purchased life insurance and it did not do them any good. I used my drill analogy on him to no avail. Two weeks later he was riding his motorcycle up the Sea-to-Sky highway to Whistler when he lost control of his bike and was killed. His young wife and child were left destitute. She had no education and was a stay at home mom without any work experience. Within a month she was homeless.

I recall meeting another man with a similar attitude. He ran a thriving automobile repair shop and I was presenting a disability plan to him. He explained that he was an entrepreneur and you do not get to be as successful as he was by playing it safe. A week later, I felt the duty to go back and try a second time to explain that disability insurance is a drill that provides income security. I rang his door bell and his wife answered. The news was not good. A vehicle had come off if its supports and fallen on top of him. He was paralyzed from the neck down. I felt like it was my fault. I should have gone back a day earlier.

I’m sure both these fathers and husbands felt that at the time, they were saving a lot of money by not buying my product, but in the end, they were just like the board member who thought all fire extinguishers used water. They wanted a hole and refused to consider that a drill is the best way to make one. They had just enough knowledge to leave their families in financial ruin.

I wonder how many proverbial drills I have rejected because I had been too closed minded to consider that the solution at hand was the best solution to my problems. Sometimes we need an aha moment to help us come to know what we do not know, it is just sad that for many of us that “aha’ moment does not come soon enough .