Business Briefing: Preparing for Evil

Keywords: Crisis Management, Risk Management, Contingency Planning, Corporate Security, Organizational Resilience
Source: Harvard Business Review
Link: Read the full article on HBR.org
Authors: Ian I. Mitroff and Murat C. Alpaslan
Published: April 2003
Est. Read Time (Original): ~30 minutes

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The Core Idea

Mitroff and Alpaslan argue that traditional crisis management is dangerously obsolete because it prepares companies to fight old wars. Leaders are adept at planning for familiar calamities but face a bigger threat from crises they have never faced, or worse, cannot even imagine. The authors draw a critical distinction between:

• "normal accidents" (system failures)
• and "abnormal accidents" (intentional, malicious acts like terrorism or product tampering).

They contend that to prepare for this "new crisis," leaders must overcome their own psychological denial and use a creative "demolition tool kit" to systematically think about the unthinkable.

Why It Matters for Business Today

In an era of global terrorism, cyberattacks, and sophisticated fraud, this article provides an essential framework for building true organizational resilience.

• Moves Beyond Cost-Benefit Analysis: The article makes a powerful case that crisis-prepared companies are more profitable and survive longer than "crisis-prone" companies that view preparedness as a simple cost-benefit calculation. The most dangerous threats are the ones you can't predict, making a proactive mindset a strategic necessity.

• A Toolkit for Thinking the Unthinkable: The authors provide a set of practical, creative exercises to break through mental barriers. These include the:

  • "Wheel of Crises" (randomly brainstorming scenarios),

  • "Internal Assassins" (tasking a team to think like villains),

  • and "Mixed Metaphors" (applying crises from other industries to your own).

• Makes Crisis Management a C-Suite Priority: The article advocates for elevating crisis management from a siloed function to a dedicated "crisis center" that reports directly to the CEO. This structural change ensures that preparing for existential threats is a continuous, strategic priority, not a sporadic, reactive exercise.

The Strategic Question for Leaders

The authors argue that to cope with "abnormal" crises, companies must learn to see their assets as their enemies do.

What specific, structured process does your organization use to force your leaders to think like an "internal assassin," systematically identifying and addressing the vulnerabilities in your products, systems, and facilities?

Share your perspective in the comments below.

Remember, by sharing your insights, you contribute to a unique "Enriched Briefing." {Jim Krider} will follow up to provide you with a powerful "Business Cold Start" document, combining our analysis with expert perspectives to equip your internal AI models with a more nuanced understanding of this topic.