Why Are We Unprepared for Crises?

An unsettling report has recently been released by The Center for Catastrophe Preparedness & Response and Public Entity Risk Institute on the state of crisis preparedness in the U.S. Many, many organizations are simply not prepared. Many lack even a rudimentary crisis plan.

Furthermore, the authors tell us that while for-profit businesses are under prepared, the nonprofit sector is even worse off:

"...despite the seemingly low levels of readiness in for-profit entities, nonprofit organizations and government agencies may be even less prepared. John Spillan found in his survey of nonprofit crisis readiness that “only a little more than a quarter of respondents indicated that a formal crisis management team or any plans to implement it were operating in their non-profit organization."

The report says that crises are more numerous and worse today in our complex, global society:

"In the 21st century, we face an emergent new class of problems that are not hierarchical, but rather conform in their structure and dynamics to systems described by complexity theory....This new class of problems tends to be fast moving and unstable, in the sense that trends and events interact spontaneously, with the result that surprise can outpace societal response. In complex systems, inputs and outputs are not only unpredictable but on occasion, highly non-linear: that is, seemingly small events can lead to massively consequential results."

The report makes some good overall suggestions:

1. Don't ignore low-probability, high-consequence events when developing crisis management plans.
2. Understand the limitations of risk analysis-that it doesn't usually include multiple, simultaneous systems failures.
3. Dedicate one individual to crisis management.
4. Provide adequate funding for crisis management.

The report emphasizes "crisis readiness," and makes the point that a healthy organization will attain this state.

This is the best set of recommendations for crisis preparedness that I have seen. I urge you to read it thoroughly and make sure that key decision makers in your organization read it. If no one else is taking crisis management seriously, jump in and be its advocate.

More about crisis management:

• Top 5 Tips for Effective Nonprofit Crisis Planning
• 10 Steps to a Nonprofit Issues Management Program

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