Words truly are insufficient to describe the impact this kind soul had on our lives, the fire service,
public safety and customer service at large. I’m especially grateful for Bruno because of the
incredible men and women that he introduced into my life. Bruno’s presence and the company he
kept were inspirational and insightful, encouraging thoughtful consideration and reflection. While I
often considered the statistical inevitability of this day, I am attempting to reconcile the immediate
future of being denied the physical presence of Bruno.
His interest in organizational excellence obtained through inspiration was focused on performance,
safety and behavior. His performance management model truly made sense and transformed
outcomes, leading to observable changes in behavior. By describing the eight functions of
command, he answered the age old question of every student of incident command, “What do you
want me to do?” It’s interesting that in all of Don Abbott’s research of nearly 3,500 may-day events
thus far, not one has occurred in an agency that is doing Blue Card, that is truly a measurable result.
Bruno would take doctoral thesis concepts and ideas and turn them into a cartoon that everyone
could understand. One that you could laugh at in seeing yourself in it, and yet able to make sense
of what we were expected to do. A true practitioner of an abundance philosophy, he demonstrated
that by sharing power by giving it away, you would reap tenfold what you had invested.
I treasured his presence, the cadence and intonation of his voice, always asking a better question,
the collective whole of the company he kept. I am so much better having met him, knowing him,
and being known as his friend. This is a sentiment that many feel. What a gift, to make so many
others feel so special, to experience value in the kindness and interest another can convey in you. I
will miss his phone calls and the inevitable question: “Hey Kevin, what do you know?” I had the
privilege of enjoying over thirty years of his tutelage and the last ten being progressively more
involved in his ideas and initiatives, collaborating on his latest book, Cool Command. This is a gift
that I will attempt to repay by paying it forward, generously sharing all that I have learned and
experienced by being his friend. As Bruno would say, “keep on going, do what’s next.”
Kevin Conant,
Battalion Chief
San Jose Fire Department (ret.)