Planning for the Next Disaster

        I used to end presentations on crisis preparedness and management with the phrase “if it hasn’t happened to you, it just hasn’t happened to you yet.” The message was simple and aimed primarily at the exceptionally lucky, or the most junior teammates in the room. The longer we do whatever it is we do, the greater the number of blips, bloopers, and blunders that will inevitably pepper our storied careers. Although we carry more scars, we can emerge better, wiser, and more prepared to manage future challenges.

              After a spring and summer of shared disruption for even the most obsessively prepared and well-managed businesses, I came to the realization I can no longer use that closing thought. It has, indeed, happened and it is happening to all of us. We are working harder than ever to preserve our businesses, retain and inspire our teammates, innovate, pivot, re-invent, and prepare for recovery in a world that may look more than a bit different from what we remember.

              Before March 2020, few of us outside of perhaps the health services industry would have thought to have a plan in place to respond to a rapidly proliferating, business-crippling global pandemic. After all, the last contagion of this magnitude unfolded more than a century ago, a time when there was far less known about human biology, viral pathogens, or pharmacology. It was a time when instant, reliable mass communication that could spread information faster than the infection was nearly impossible. Yet, the unimaginable happened anyway.

              Most of us did not have a global pandemic response plan because we clearly cannot plan for “everything.” We can, however, be better at planning for “anything.”   That’s because although problems don’t follow patterns, solutions often do.  We may not have foreseen a pandemic, but many of us foresaw the wisdom of having a plan to enable a quick switch to remote operations if our place of business was not accessible for some period of time. We might have foreseen the need to establish a clear chain of command and responsibility if our leadership structure was interrupted due to illness, or worse. We certainly could have foreseen the potential for a drastic interruption in revenue or a sudden need for cash. Any of these contingency needs might be precipitated by a wide range of challenges, from a fire, natural disaster, an outbreak of violent civil unrest, a transit strike, or an act of terror. This time around, it was a pandemic. That is the benefit of planning for anything.  Those of us who had contingency and business continuity plans in place that approached preparation and response more generally might have had an easier time pivoting to crisis mode. 

              Most importantly, even when we are finally looking at the Covid-19 pandemic in the rearview mirror, we can be sure it will not be the only, or the last crisis we will face, either collectively or individually (though hopefully, it will be far and away the worst). There may even be another crisis around the corner, ready to pounce while the pandemic is still raging. This is not the time to stop imagining the future “anythings” that can happen to our businesses, our teams, and ourselves, and preparing actionable contingency plans to manage them. In fact, with our resources strained and the prognosis uncertain, this is the most important time to apply what we have learned even while still enduring the pain of the past year so we can be more ready for the next time disaster looms.

              Because, if it hasn’t happened to you more than once, it will.

Read more about crisis planning and management in “What to Do When Things Go Wrong" – A Five-Step Guide to Planning for and Surviving the Inevitable – and Coming Out Ahead” by Frank Supovitz, available on Amazon.com in print and as an Audible audiobook. Supovitz founded Fast Traffic, an event management, production, and consulting company after serving a combined 23 seasons leading major event planning for the NFL and NHL.