What To Do
When there’s a crisis, no one shouts,
“Quick! Find the binder with the emer-
gency plan! Check out the table of con-
tents and see if anything fits!”
When there’s a crisis, no one shouts,
“Quick! Everyone sit down and take three
deep breaths! Then count to ten! Then,
let’s set up a few committees and get this
thing organized! All in favor, raise your
hands!”
When there’s a crisis, people act.
(Based on my experience as the mayor, the
urge to act is almost overwhelming.) What
we need is for people to act well.
Experience (the real kind) is something you get after you need it, and you
(and others) can pay a heavy price for
your on-the-job training. Experience
(from emotionally engaging simulation)
is something you can get before you need
it, when it can lower the price of real-life
crises.
Here’s what to look for in simulation-based education:
Unpredictable. Simulations designed to
follow a script are unrealistic or simplistic.
Look for a simulation that can go in many
different directions, based on decisions
made by the participants.
Multiple participants. Involve the whole
team so they can build camaraderie,
develop trust, and practice working
together. Remember to include people from
gov-ernment, key infrastructure, and local
businesses.
Relentless. In real life, you don’t get to
press a pause button so you can rest or
ponder. Look for simulated experiences
that keep up the pressure. Part of the realism and emotional engagement come from
events that keep moving.
Challenging. You don’t want a lightweight
simulation where you have little to do or the
“right” answer is easy to spot. Remember
that you want to develop decision-making
and leadership skills. Have participants
face realistically difficult questions and
pressure.
Cause and effect. Participants need
to know that their decisions will have
appropriate consequences. (That doesn’t
necessarily mean that the consequences
are clear or predictable.) The effects of their
decisions should depend on when they
make those decisions and on those made
by others.
The toll of natural disasters, major accidents, and deliberate attacks is terrible.
What makes them tragic is that they don’t
have to be so bad. We can do better.
v
Mark Chussil is the founder and CEO of
Advanced Competitive Strategies, Inc.,
( http://whatifyourstrategy.com) and a
founder and senior director of Crisis Simulations International, LLC (http://crisissimula-
tions.com). Chussil designed CSI’s patented DXMA™
crisis simulator and ACS’s award-winning ValueWar™
strategy simulator. He is a highly rated public speaker,
published extensively, and consulted on six continents. He
earned his bachelor’s degree from Yale and a Master of
Business Administration from Harvard.
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