GETTING OUT OF YOUR BUBBLE

GETTING OUT OF YOUR BUBBLE

Layne Neal | October 12, 2026

The Wind Up

Starting out in the fire service I thought the department I was on would teach me

everything that I needed to know. My confirmation bias just kept getting fed because I was at par with the people around me. I thought I was a rock star, even though I was just a “big fish in a small pond”. This went on for several years, never really challenging myself and never leaving my bubble, even getting hired full time at my current department. I got challenged but I still fed my bias, I didn’t know what I didn’t know. It wasn’t until 2021 that I went to my first Oathkeepers Fire Conference and my eyes got absolutely opened. I was shown the fact that there were different, faster, easier, and all around more efficient ways to do things than I had ever been shown. I was shown the importance of things that had been, up until then, unimportant to me. The instructors articulated and demonstrated the pace that should be held on the fireground. Without this training event, I would have never learned the importance of these things. However, what is most important is why it is necessary to get out of your comfort zone, and out of your station walls.

There are so many ways to do things in this profession, some better, some worse, and

some on par with each other. Yet when we get to learn things from people from

completely different regions of the country, we can identify regional weaknesses in our

training cultures and performance. Is the investment worth learning something from

someone on the opposite side of the country? Absolutely, especially when 

realizing that it will work for you and your department. Is the time worth learning skills you wouldn’t have otherwise ever seen 

because it’s not something your department or region does? Is it worth building friendships and a professional network that will last a lifetime and give you subject matter experts to reach out to when you have a question or want to critique your performance? Absolutely priceless. I cannot say enough about the importance of getting outside of your station and learning something, at a minimum out of your region and maybe even across the country. This is so important to me that I try to make it to at least two or three outside classes or conferences each year.

The Reality

Coming home from that first year at Oathkeepers, I was ecstatic with everything I had learned, and I couldn’t wait to share it all. If it was this earth shattering for me then

Everyone else would LOVE to hear it right? Boy I sure was wrong. Like any young

firefighter who learned earth-shattering information who couldn’t wait to share the

gospel: I got ridiculed. I got told, “I don’t care what they taught you. I learned what I need to know right here and that’s all I need to know.” I was so disheartened, all I wanted to share was what I learned with those around me. I almost didn’t go to another class after that, but I did. I had conversations with friends that I had made, I heard they struggled with this as well, and they shared how they go about spreading information they brought back. Let me preface this by saying: I still struggle. I just want to share it with everyone, but

you must have the right approach, an approach of “hey I learned this new way of doing xyz skill, and it works very well for me, do you want to try it?” Coming at it from an approach of “we are doing this wrong and this new way is the only way” is not going to get people to listen. Nobody wants to hear “you’re wrong”. You also must realize that just like not everyone is going to want to hear what you say, not everyone that does want to hear it is going to like it. We have to accept that it is okay, not everyone is required to believe in the same things. Approaching things from a perspective of “this works for me, and I believe it is the best option for me, and here’s why. If it doesn’t work for you, find what does, if it’s efficient, and it puts the citizens first, I don’t care how you do it.”

Even if your ideas are not adopted department wide, it’s okay, change takes time. I have found that doing things in training, or on scene, and people seeing how well it works also tends to be a good way to introduce new skills and get those people who don’t necessarily want to hear it right off the get-go. Getting to outside classes and breaking the confirmation bias you get at your own department is paramount. Even if you don’t pick up anything groundbreaking, seeing that your own skills are on par with current practice is essential to making sure the citizens are put first. Yes, the first few classes for me changed A LOT of how I do things, because I didn’t know what I didn’t know. I still go to classes and learn things, sometimes it’s just little tweaks or tips. Sometimes it is brand new skills, sometimes it’s just the ability to get good quality reps under high stress/ realistic conditions, and sometimes getting to push yourself.

Closing

The most toxic place a firefighter can stay is within the four walls of their department. As the fire service evolves, so do the strategies, the tactics, the training. Tactics, tasks, and concepts are being driven by data, science, and real-world application, and without

exposure to these concepts our public may suffer the consequences of firefighters who

are unprepared, perform poorly under pressure, or waste valuable time without quality reps. There are so many local conferences out there, you don’t even have to travel across the country to take one if you don’t want to. Get out there, learn new skills, different ways to do those skills, make lifelong friends, push yourself, and bring it back and share it in such a way that you get buy-in, while understanding change takes time. Preaching that your organization is doing things “wrong” will only alienate you, fracture relationships, and cause problems. Showing ideas, concepts, and alternatives to be vetted is necessary for your success. As a friend once shared with me, a lesson passed down from one of his mentors: “You’ve got to piss people off at a rate they can absorb.”