On January 23, 2020, the first confirmed case of Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) was identified in Hong Kong. This singular event, a public health crisis, created a cascading chain of unanticipated events that impacted individuals and companies alike. Schools and events were canceled; major corporates and financial institutions worked from home; medical supplies and staff were in short supply; and panic buying of consumer products ensued. Begging two very important questions, how do we deal with this and how do we recover from it? Of course, all coming against the backdrop of recent political unrest, this creates a unique challenge for decision-makers.

For most people, times of crisis are uncomfortable, scary, and stress filled. However, for some, crisis, and the chaos born from it, are embraced and overcome gracefully. It is the latter group of folks that most intrigues me. How do they handle crises so easily? Moreover, if individuals can respond in this fashion, can corporates replicate their example?

Crisis forces reasonable people to act hurried, frantic, and disorganized. Often, crisis breeds chaos. Chaos is an unintended by-product of crisis derived from bad decisions stemming from a lack of planning. If this is in fact the case, corporations (regardless of size) could experience catastrophic effects from a single crisis, and the subsequent bad decisions that form post-crisis. Moreover, a lack of preparedness and an inadequate response can produce chaos therein compounding the effects of the original crisis.

For a moment, consider the example of first responders. They live their lives in a heightened state of readiness. Day to day they live between adrenaline surges and doldrums. First responders appear unafraid of crisis and chaos; often running toward instead of away from it. They train and prepare for “worst case scenarios.”  So, is the ability to navigate chaos innate or learned? Does it come instinctively or naturally to those special few that handle crisis and chaos so well? The short answer is maybe but not likely. More plausibly, the ability to manage crisis and chaos comes from a continuous process involving ongoing risk assessments; critical situational and trend analyses; contingency planning and development; and repetitive preparedness drills and implementation simulations. And, this is all underpinned by training, research, resources, and experience. What differentiates first responders from others is their ability to do all the above quickly and efficiently.

If this is the case (as I suspect it is), it doesn’t matter if you are a bus driver or Chief Executive Officer, handling chaos is an unnatural action that most are ill-equipped to tackle. Those individuals and corporations that respond well in chaotic, exigent, and crisis-filled situations do so because they are prepared. Therefore, contingency preparation should be the goal of any professional. Learning to build a “war chest” of contingency solutions that address the unanticipated may save lives of both individuals as well as corporations. Food for thought… when building your contingency “tool-box” and chaos intervention capacity, you may want to consider the following:

1. 1. Conduct active, continuous (periodic), risk assessments across corporate operations;
   2. Survey and analyze available resources able to be utilized, and relied upon, in times of crisis;
   3. Develop sound contingency plans and exigent operations protocols, and simulate their implementation;
   4. Capitalize on “teachable moments” and simultaneously learn from exigent circumstances, even if they’re not your own. Use times of public crisis as a trigger point for learning and action and modification of existing contingency plans (as needed);
   5. Train, Train, Train but do so realistically and meaningfully; and
   6. Surround yourself with experienced, talented, and time-tested survivors that understand how to foster preparedness.

Finally, learning how to address crisis and chaos is, as outlined above, most likely learned rather than instinctual. Of course, proactive prevention and creating a culture of preparedness is optimal. However, effective reaction and responsiveness is critically necessary. Mitigating latent risk, abating exigent crises, and preventing chaos from being born requires commitment. The good news is that preparedness and the ability to effectively manage chaos born from crisis, appear to be learned skills rather than intuitive. So, under current conditions, perhaps it is prudent to re-evaluate your level of preparedness and embrace contingency planning and crisis response to insulate your organization from the disruptive, and destructive, effects of crisis born chaos.

This is the first in a series of pieces on risk assessment and contingency planning.