In a disaster you will be on your own. Those personnel that have risen to the ranks of
management may not prove to be those that possess the leadership required during
this period. Those that have been rewarded for doing what they are supposed to may
not possess the knowledge, skills or abilities to lead teams during emergency, when
there is no longer a supposed to matrix by which to judge performance. Crucial
decisions will be made during this period, and unorthodox methods employed to
improve the situation. Managers are not necessarily leaders. Leaders are those who,
through their talents, posses the ability to encourage persons to perform in a manner
they would normally not.
Utilize a Rigid Response Doctrine (RRD) for e-plans and immediate
response
The RRD must be embedded into the E-plan. RRD has been the missing ingredient in
the traditional disaster planning and execution process. The literature has continually
identified a failure of the universally proscribed planning and implementation process
of disaster mitigation as the reason for negative outcomes, but could never quite finger
the culprit. One possibility for dealing with such matters is teaching disaster
management within curricula and training programs. The literature has also largely
avoided the topic of management theory, thereby passively endorsing contingency
model as the sine qua non. When all things possible are removed, only what remains,
however improbable, must be the reason for this failure. It is the management model.
Contingency model management works for all – except disaster. Rigid response is
proposed as the solution. Perhaps most importantly learn the lessons and apply the
information put forth with the understanding that all situations are unique and
contextual. In other words, with respect to disasters the future is not a repeat of the
past.
References