I recently stumbled upon an excellent blog posting by Peter Bregman, a management and leadership consultant, in the Harvard Business Review. It told of an expedition into the wilderness and how the party became lost by following a pre-defined trail rather than adapting their route based on their current situation and surroundings. Peter used the experience to illustrate how businesses can become fixated with their “plan”, ignoring opportunities which might have taken them to their destination much more quickly.
This analogy is especially true with regard to crisis management. Some organisations don’t bother planning for crises at all: they just cling tightly to their four-leaved clover and hope that bad things happen to the next man rather than them. Others take the time to develop a thorough crisis manual: hopefully it’s not too detailed or else it will never work in the heat of the incident (the most comprehensive and meticulous crisis manual that I have ever seen was awe-inspiring in its completeness, but ultimately ornamental rather than actionable in a crisis). And the most enlightened businesses also invest in regular crisis training and rehearsal.
Great processes and a well-trained team is the perfect combination: given the choice of one or the other, I’d go for the well-trained team every time. I know that skilled leadership and superb teamwork can bring an organisation through a crisis unscathed, even without a plan. A perfect plan without these qualities is never enough.
Peter’s blog reminded me of the criticality of crisis training – desktop exercises, media training, full simulations, briefings for front-line staff and so on – in order to protect the business from reputational harm. Because when you’re in the wilderness and a crisis strikes, a plan is very helpful, but it’s your people that will keep you safe.
