I don’t know about you, but I love digging into case studies and histories of past disasters. There are so many things we can learn from the past – we just need to pay attention and then act to change our plans and/or our behavior.

Since 1982, many of our clients have faced major crises, and I’ve tracked the key lessons over that period. As I’ve reviewed these events and how they were handled, I’ve identified the following ten things that should have happened – but usually didn’t. Here’s your chance to learn from others’ mistakes.

1. Declare the disaster and activate as early as possible.

What is it about human nature that makes us wait until it is almost too late? Could it be that admitting there is a problem will make it worse? Will we be blamed or thought to be not good enough? I am not sure what it is, but I have observed that companies tend to drag their feet for a considerable time before screaming “Uncle!” and formally declaring a disaster. A technology group is known for saying, “Give me ten more minutes and we can fix it,” which just delays getting the real fix in place in a timely manner.

The longer you delay making your declaration, the harder it is to get ahead of the situation. Declare! If you discover a few hours later that the activation wasn’t needed, demobilize the team. Better to be ahead of the game than behind the eight ball!

2. Staff initially at a high enough level.

It often takes many people to manage an event. This includes not only the managers but also the key administrative staff necessary for critical activities such as answering the telephone, logging calls, maintaining status boards, making copies, and handling logistics. Don’t get caught short-staffed. A pool of people who can handle many types of jobs will be incredibly useful. And don’t send the entire staff home without carefully considering your staffing needs. It’s always good to have a few extra people around for the odd job you haven’t yet discovered was needed.

3. Issue clear and consistent instructions to staff.

Your team needs to hear clear, consistent directions and instructions from you. Communicate clearly and frequently, and tell them what they need to do. They shouldn’t have to play a guessing game about what they should be doing. A great communication tool is a well-crafted Incident Action Plan (IAP) that details the event status, the strategic objectives and assignments, and the next meeting time.

4. Delegate authority to those who have been tasked.

If you assign a task to someone, you must also give them the authority to do it. I sometimes encounter people who are assigned a task but then told to ask for permission to execute it. This often happens when issuing communications. The Communications staff is told to develop a communication – and then need to go through a lengthy approval process. Some approval makes sense – fact-checking, tone of the communication – but once it’s done, get out of the way and let them do their job.

5. Avoid the “We’re a really smart group, and we’ll figure it out when it happens” syndrome.

This is one of my favorites! My university clients are known for this attitude, although they aren’t the only ones. Yes, everyone understands that the team is smart, but disasters can have a major impact on someone’s ability to function. People struggle to collect their thoughts, process information, or simply know what to do next. A plan can help with all of that. But even more important is effective training through exercises. In an incident, there is a tendency to “fall back to the level of training.” Hopefully, if it happens in your company, it would be just a slight fall rather than a nosedive.

6. Assume and plan for some degradation in personnel and/or systems over time.

Most plans aren’t built for a multi-day activation, and employees aren’t made to work hours or days without any break. Humans are not robots and our ability to perform degrades over time. “Decision fatigue” speaks to this very issue. The more decisions we make, the fewer we want to make. We perform best when we are rested and fed. Don’t drive the teams into the ground. It’s hard enough to manage a disaster without killing off the team.

7. Closely monitor team and plan effectiveness.

Closely tied to #6, we need to keep a close eye on how we are doing. Are we meeting our incident objectives? Keep a close eye on your plan and team. One of my clients has their employee assistance program assign a counselor to every shift at their Emergency Operations Center. They simply walk through each shift and talk to the staff – in effect, they take the group’s “temperature.” They can intervene as they see fit and help the teams function. Remember, if the people aren’t taken care of, soon there will be no people to worry about!

8. Make decisions – keep moving forward.

Leaders need to make decisions, and they often have to do so with little information in an emergency – and they’re often uncomfortable making decisions with incomplete information or under pressure. However, that is the very nature of decision-making in an emergency. Make a decision. If you find out later it was the wrong decision, then make another and keep moving forward. We need our leaders to lead!

9. Make changes when necessary, and keep moving.

A critical skill of a great leader is the ability to improvise, adapt, and keep moving the recovery forward. Tied to that is the ability to be creative and flexible. We can’t be stiff and inflexible, or we will break in the wind of the event. We need to bend, bow, and adjust as necessary. I always picture a tall palm tree in a hurricane – it bends and stretches, but it remains intact and whole.

10. Communicate, communicate, and communicate some more.

Communication may be the single biggest lesson of all. In many ways, I think it is also the easiest to fix. I have never had anyone say to me, “My company communicated with me too much.” It is critical to communicate frequently. Your employees and the public demand clear, crisp communication. They expect and want you to be transparent and forthcoming. If you aren’t telling them what is going on, most folks will turn to other sources for information, including social media, AI, internet searches, and local news.

Today, everyone is a reporter, using their smartphones and social media apps to immediately post pictures, videos, and information. Assign someone on your team to monitor social media after any incident. Your crisis may appear at any time – keep an eye on the hashtags. The information may or may not be accurate, so be prepared to respond with factual information. Remember, if you are not out there telling your story, someone else is likely doing it for you – and chances are, you might not like their take on it.

Going Forward – Becoming Resilient

Why learn from our historical mistakes? We know that history has a tendency to repeat itself. Whenever you have an incident at your company, always conduct a debriefing and write an after-action report with recommendations and an action plan to make improvements. I would encourage you to remember the words often attributed to Albert Einstein: “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” We all know the way to get different results is to do it differently.