In early February, WMI and several key Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) staff conducted a 3-day training session called “Thinking Like a Manager”. This concept was originally developed for the FWC in 2006 by Dr. Daniel Decker and his colleagues at Cornell University. It was later developed into a training session to help staff fully understand the context of conservation-related issues.

The training develops “coaches” that can lead groups of agency staff to explore the broad ecological and socio-political system in which the issue resides. The process is called developing a Manager’s Model and FWC has conducted dozens of these Models focusing on topics such as black bear, coastal wildlife, snail kites, Florida panthers, pythons, freshwater turtles, lionfish, sharks, and coyotes. FWC has even used the Manager’s Model to explore conservation easements, the future of wildlife management areas, nongame species management, and the management of FWC facilities.

This process explicitly identifies desired future conditions, current conditions, and stakeholders and the impacts or experiences they seek. The process identifies current and needed ecological and conservation social science information, agency, public, and political concerns about the issue as well as constraints and opportunities. The Model identifies potential management actions and the collateral and subsequent impacts if those actions are implemented. It is not planning per se, but the outcomes can inform formal planning processes.

The training includes staff from all facets of the agency and promotes cross-work unit collaboration and results in better understanding of the agency’s work. FWC has trained over 100 staff in this process and is hoping to expand its cadre of coaches. While there are guides to support staff conducting a Manager’s Model, the best way to learn how to do a Manager’s Model is to do one with experienced coaches.

For more information, contact Ann Forstchen at AForstchen@wildlifemgt.org.