Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Gut Instincts In Crisis Decision Making
I recently reviewed a posting on a prominent web forum that gave the author’s best take on the role of “feelings” in making decisions – especially during a crisis or urgency. I agreed and did not agree with the posting as it relates to Crisis Management and Crisis Decisions. Yes, feelings or more accurately described as “intuition” or “Gut Instincts” are part of crisis decisions – the posting dismissed this as not always an accurate method of making a decision. Yes, but…I thought – and here I go. I just have to say something here. I know of many stories and recounts of how a person “sensed” something and made a decision on that intuition which may or may not have been consistent with the facts at hand nor the advice of others. Why? Here’s my 2 cents on this subject:
- People instinctively know more than they consciously know that they know. Our minds which are based on our brain function, are so much more complex and contain so much more than we are aware. We know more than we know or of which we are aware. That knowledge comes from our experiences and our intuitive interpretation of our circumstances and we get a “sense” of what we should do. Some people call this the gut instinct. Many times this is developed from training. Others say it is knowing the RIGHT THING TO DO which is also based on our conscience which is our moral compass as well as our personal values.
- There is more to a situation than just “facts”. In fact, facts are only facts as long as the conditions remain constant. Facts are different depending on who tells them, who sees them, who knows them and may or may not contain all the truth. Because of our analytical abilities, we are, based on our experience and previous knowledge input, able to assemble and consider “facts”. Some of us do this “instinctively” without a conscious purpose that we are doing this. It is what gives us a sense of awareness and may result in hesitation to take a specific path, spend financial or human capital, or move forward on a recommended decision. Again, this is often called a “sense” which is our unconscious intellect that doesn’t have an external source. We are able to discern “facts” and make a decision based on our senses or “hunches”.
- There is more to communication than the electronic information put before us. We have become entrenched in electronic communication and filtered, digested, slanted and cultured reports and communication. Which means that we “read between the lines” and, based on our mind set, we “interpret” information and communication. So many times I hear leadership team members say to each other, “I was just thinking the same thing”; or “Yes, I just thought of that, too.” This is enhanced, in my experience, when you add video to audio – as in teleconferencing. You are far more able to “see” what the other team members are thinking – I know that sounds weird, but non-verbal (visual) communication is often estimated at 80% of communication – and without consciously acknowledging that, we act on or make decisions on more than just verbal or written communication. Some would call that instincts and it may well be, but it has an external origination that is processed internally. We don’t just receive “Facts”, we interpret them and understand them in context. This process can be called “gut instinct” and it can also be a “group experience” for a leadership team.
- There is a spiritual factor to people who have a faith oriented mindset in which they are sensitive to a response (answer) to their prayer and/or sudden creative thoughts about the situation. Some people have dreams and others experience daydreams or visions and these people trust this form of “instinct” as divine inspiration and guidance. In one case with a faith-based international relief and response organization, I was training the leadership team in crisis management and asked, “ So, based on this situation (we were conducting a table top exercise), what is the first step of the Crisis Management Team?” I, of course, was teaching process and I was expecting a response that started out with Number 1 on our checklist/team agenda. What I got back was a unanimous response that , “We pray.” I will report that this team was more comfortable with each other, employed a more cohesive and mutually respectful process with each other, and more quickly arrived at a decision on the situation and when they arrived at a decision, they all agreed that it was the right thing to do. I was very impressed with their maturity and faith or trust in divine guidance and their trust of each other. I don’t teach this in my trainings, but I would encourage anyone in a faith-based organization to rely on this.
- The final comment I have is that there is more to every individual’s capability than they realize, and many times, this capability becomes manifest during a crisis situation. This is what most people think of as leadership and maybe that is what this is. Most people not only do the right thing, they do it better than their previous best and most of us don’t’ either know that we can or could say with confidence that we could. The best way to do the best we can and make the best decision we can when we don’t have enough time, information or resources, is to prepare to do so. That is why we have crisis management plans and do the pre-training to prepare ourselves. Even with that, which pushes up to a higher level of capability, we can go upward and beyond depending on the situation. There are so many testimonies of people who not only evacuated dangerous situations (like the World Trade Center), but also helped others and made immediate important life-saving decisions at the time. This is in you – in all of us. Maybe it is gut instinct, but I think it is also the best of you coming out when it is needed.
Crisis Leadership is doing the right thing at the right time and being your best during the worst. In order to do that, you need to be prepared. Have a plan and know what to do – that’s the best place to start off during a crisis.
Jan Decker, Crisis Management Consulting jan.decker@comcast.net 253·261·2704
Copyright 2012 – All Rights Reserved
CPG 101 – That is the subject of the next few blogs.
There are a few of us who oddly came of age with an interest – and for me it is a passionate endeavor – in developing, training in, and using what are now known as Emergency Operations Plans (EOP). While emergency planning per se is now a more or less common task, when most of us who were here before the CPG 101 – when we were coming up the ranks, the drudge job was writing the emergency operations plan and I’m one of the few who actually wanted the job. In fact, I helped other agencies and private entities and finally became a consultant in it just because I loved it. Thank the GOOD LORD for the proliferation of computers and MS WORD, which has made the production of the pages into a planner-friendly process. And, no matter what you think of the various governments and models and all the bazillion guidelines and requirements, you gotta be happy that there is the CPG 101 (Comprehensive Planning Guide 101, a FEMA guideline, available at: http://www.fema.gov/pdf/about/divisions/npd/CPG_101_V2.pdf .
It is a smart, strategic and comprehensive approach. Where I come in with these blogs, is hopefully, to explain it in such a way that it makes sense and if you are an emergency planner, or want to hire one, you will have a good feeling about this planning process.
To start off, I believe it would be good to remember where we came from. Emergency Operations Plans, in the good ol’ days came from the CIVIL DEFENSE era, when we were focused on, funded by, and supposed to be addressing ATTACK and THREAT contingencies. Most of our DISASTER COUNCILS and our local, state and federal government authorities were based on (many of them still are) an attack from a foreign entity. We were all about population protection from nuclear bombs, radioactive particles, explosions, air attacks and, air borne threats of mustard gas and other attack agents. Our plans were focused on the organization and assignment of our government resources on such contingencies. We had the CIVIL DEFENSE radio and then television emergency broadcast system, assigned shelters, and cadres of civilian volunteers who were registered and willing and able to organize their communities into protection, relocation, and survival. Oh yeah, we had cool yellow construction helmets and vests with CIVIL DEFENSE all over them. You could pick us out in the crowd!
With the givens of such potential situations, the Plans were organized around government emergency authority and department or agency based assignments. Many of the plans were very straightforward and simple and supplemented by separate plans based contingencies, such as radiology monitoring or field hospitals. Some of these plans had different authorities and were quite unique – each one having its own authority, set of leaders and levels of activation or trigger points. We didn’t have a STANDARD set of terms or functions and these plans varied by state, city, county and application. As a relative youngster in the emergency management business, I was very impressed with how military sounding these plans were. And almost every plan had pages and pages of contingency instructions with department assignments and the identification of resources, such as, the American Red Cross, the local volunteers and places or equipment. Pretty basic. And today’s planning is pretty much based on the same approach.
What is different is now instead of a whole bunch of separate plans, we have a comprehensive approach with one basic plan, identified potential hazards, threats, situations and incidents, and a single system of authority, management, coordination and control. All of it is INTEGRATED, which means that there are master or primary concepts and each annex (contingency or function) works off of the main concepts (the Basic Plan). We also have multiple concurrent leadership, and try as we do to get it all under 1 INCIDENT COMMANDER; we have to work with various laws, programs, and authorities.
So, after the 80’s, we left the simple plan and bunches of other plans, and started to consolidate into one master plan and tried to focus on FUNCTIONS instead of DEPARTMENTS. Hence, the MULTI-FUNCTIONAL PLAN, which was very comprehensive and its signature was the old P and S chart – where the functions were listed across the top and the departments down the side and the P’s were the primary (in charge of) and the S’s were support.
Into this design comes the Incident Command System (ICS) which provided an excellent model of functional based response organization that was loosely integrated into the plans. This was a monkey wrench into the department based plans and works fabulously for fire type incidents, but was difficult for other types of responses.
And, with the 80’s came FEMA and emphasis shifted from war planning to natural and technological disasters and you all know the story of how we got to 9/11.
And that’s the thumbnail of plans and their history – I’m sure most communities that have been around for the past forty years could expound on this with very interesting anecdotes.
So, with the CPG 101 – all of the above has come together into a comprehensive guide and I love it. The most recent guidelines bring back the departments and allow all annexes (which are those separate plans) to co-exist as management annexes, specific functional annexes, hazard/incident specific annexes and now department annexes. Hurray for the CPG 101. We can have it all and have it all organized into one master plan again.
If you are still saying, ok, so how do I get started? Hang in there. We’ll start on that next blog.
Questions – give me ring or a ping– Jan Decker 253 261 2704. jan.decker@comcast.net
Preparedness for the Small Business
From time to time, I’m asked to talk to groups of business folks with small operations, family owned businesses, home-based operations, and owener operated enterprises. Here is the substance of an hour’s talk:
Think About It:
- There IS A 9 OUT OF 10 chance that your business
will go out of business for good if you are not prepared for a major disaster. - If you are injured or become unable to work as a
result of a disaster, the chances are even higher that your doors will close. - If you are unable to conduct business after 2
weeks of being closed, you probably won’t reopen. - Most businesses that depend upon daily cash flow
have a permanent loss of revenue when the business is closed. - Most operator/owner run businesses will have
permanent loss from any revenue or loss not covered by insurance and for the
length of time it takes for the insurance to pay off. - Most owner/operators have chosen not to pay for
L&I, unemployment and other public assistance. - Power and other utility services can be
interrupted for up to 2 weeks. - Banks will not honor lines of credit and cash
loans without proof of payment
now. - Customers are fickle – many of them take their
business to other providers and not come back. - The emotional and operational cost of a
lost dollar is 3 times – it takes $3 to overcome the cost of losing $1
GET READY:
- If you have to shut down for 3 days – and you
know it – list 5 things that you will do for your business? - Working SMART for your business:
- S – STRATEGIC – STAY in business
- M – MANAGE – the MOST important things – People, Assets, Business Capability
- A – ACCOUNTS – Customers, Bank, Vendors, Payroll
- R – RESOURCES – Back ups, Extras, Credit, Funds, Alternates, Fixes
- T-TIME and TALENT - Prioritize, Authorize. Improvise, Back to Strategize
SYSTEMS THAT MUST BE IN PLACE:
- The ability to communicate with Staff, Customers and Key Stakeholders
- The capability to continue, restore and restart the provision of services or selling of products
- The ability operate business process including:banking, ordering,
etc
PLANS and HOW TO’s WHEN THINGS ARE NOT NORMAL
- How are we going to manage ongoing business
- How are we going to assess damage and impacts – to our people, our place of operation, our assets and our capabilities
- How are we going to restart operations if interrupted
- Is there a way to recovery that which has been lost?
Tips on Damage Assessment
- Have a list of everything that could be broken or lost – through a video capture, lists and photos.
- Take photos and make notations of all lost, broken, damaged, and ruined assets
- Get estimates for repair and replacement
- Work with insurance reps to prepare reports/claims -
- Know the policy provisions and meet any insurance requirements
BACK IN BIZ???
Advertise and announce to EVERYONE – customers will return!
SOME THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND:
- Have more than 1 cell phone and email
- Keep customer contact records backed and available
- Accounts receivable – you want to keep that backed up
- Accounts payable – pay people first
- Have back up signatures and power of attorney so
that someone can run your business - Have alternate suppliers and be prepared to provide temporary solutions to customers
- If you cannot provide a service, be ready to make a decision about your current jobs – either pay for a substitute or plan to recompense your customers
- Read all your insurance document NOW – make sure
you understand it
If all is lost – spend quiet time rethinking your business – sometimes you can restart and sometimes you can start over. Get legal advice, if needed.
Remember – a Crisis is ALWAYS an Opportunity
Jan Decker – 253 261 2704
13 Point Crisis Management Strategy
I am often asked for a good strategy for Crisis Management –
what is a good Crisis Management Plan
Here is my standard answer:
When a Crisis happens, your strategy is to:
- Know what is happening (facts, data and situational information)
- Know what “what is happening” means (understanding)
- Know what to do about it (response plan)
- Know who does what when you do something about it (designated team)
- Know how to do what you are to do about it (process and procedures)
- Know how to manage all that is being done or should be done about it (management)
- Have sufficient resources to accomplish what is being done(supplies, authority, tools and access to unds/resources/outside services)
- Be able to communicate and see what is being done by you and others – interactive real time communication
- Be able to make decisions and send instructions and receive feedback while it is all happening – be able to manage
- Be able to delegate and control or manage without having to do everything, say everything or check on everything yourself – (a system, a team, a process and an infrastructure)
- Record, post, map, collate, analyze and document data and actions – (a system)
- Be able to show that you did what you did and when you did it and how you did it and who did what (documentation)
- Be able to review/assess/analyze what you did so that the next time you are able to do it better and that you can defend what you did to those who may critique you in the aftermath
Jan Decker – jan.decker@comcast.net
Never let a crisis go to waste – Taking Advantage of Current Events For Scenarios
Every day something happens somewhere that causes the emergency management to pause with thanks that it didn’t happen here. This short blog is a reminder that everyone of those events are GREAT SCENARIOS and can be used to conduct a mini training – especially while the news story is still warm. Consider the events in Egypt – what if hundreds of people started marching around City Hall or the Corporate Headquarters or the Park in the Neighborhood or the Campus ? And then the international media descended. And then there were various random incidents. And then there was looting. And then people were missing? And then VIPs showed up. All in a day or two.
What a great scenario – yes a little preposterous for most of us – but none-the-less great fodder on which to build a brief little table top exercise. One of my clients holds a mini training monthly with the key leadership. They bring in a what-if brief story-line based on something that has happened somewhere, adapt it to their situation and go through their EOP to identify their primary actions. Doesn’t take them more than an hour – hardly any time building up the scenario and keeps them fresh on how to use their EOP. They never let anyone else’s crisis go to waste. Maybe you can too.