Exactly one month ago, I hosted a poll at the tail end of a blog post on the importance of building elite crisis management teams and not relying solely on plans.
Pollsters were faced with a Solomon-like choice*: if you could choose only one, would you rather have a super crisis plan with no trained team? Or the opposite?
As of this evening, 95 percent favored team over plan.
Unfortunately, I would say that ratio is THE MIRROR OPPOSITE of the way organizations focus on crisis preparedness.
In my experience, approximately 95 percent of clients who solicit agency assistance for crisis preparedness usually remain focused on building, updating or improving the written plan. Although my colleagues and I always impress the importance of crisis management training, very few organizations are able to focus (or get budget) to train their people in the craft.
Now, just like Col John “Hannibal” Smith, I also love it when a plan comes together. However, a plan alone is not a capability. Ideally, you need an actionable plan (i.e., not a thick binder) and a well-trained team to manage crises effectively.
Below, please share your ideas on ways to better promote crisis management training. Also, please share this on Twitter, Facebook or Digg through the button below so we can really gather some great dialogue. Thanks.
*Footnote: I recognize the poll came at the end of a post where I advocated “team,” so results are hardly scientifically sound. I also assume most visitors of this website are cut from a similar cloth and thus probably stacked the ballot box because of similar beliefs. No biggie – the poll just tested the winds.
It is a sad fact that companies which have been badly burned by a crisis are often the ones to then give most attention to crisis management. A good example is Andy Grove of Intel in the wake of the Pentium chip disaster which cost his company over $3 billion. His perspective on crisis planning is well worth recalling. This is what he said in 1995. "You need to plan the way a fire department plans. It cannot anticipate where the next fire will be, so it has to shape an energetic and efficient team that is capable of responding to the unanticipated." To that I would add my own perspective. Of course a crisis is messy and difficult and challenging. If there was a simple solution it wouldn't be a crisis.
Fantastic quote to share, Tony. Thanks for participating over here…I've long been an admirer of your perspectives on the LinkedIn groups we share in common.