In the heat of a crisis, there’s no take two. The stakes are high, the facts are messy, and a wrong move can be irreversible. Smart leaders know their first time in the hot seat should not be under the glare of live TV cameras, but instead in the safety of a training room, where the lesson comes before the test.
So, how do you design a crisis learning program that mirrors real-world pressure without real-world stakes?
Conversations with communicators reveal a strong appetite for a peek behind the curtain at how peers navigate tough moments. What makes a media statement land or misfire? What do effective operational models for crisis management look like? How do global organizations manage the push and pull between the head office and frontline teams?
These are tough questions — and understandably so. Crises often involve sensitive or confidential dynamics, and many organizations are hesitant to open about what really happened. When it comes to building resilience, the options are limited: learn from your own mistakes or from someone else’s.
Like any high-stakes discipline — aviation, emergency medicine, or the performing arts — crisis management requires practice. Mastery doesn’t happen by accident. It follows a deliberate learning arc: familiarization, practice, and rehearsal.
Familiarization: Proactive Crisis Management 101
Familiarization is about getting oriented and understanding roles, context, and rules of engagement. In theatre, actors explore a character’s backstory. In aviation, pilots study technical manuals and safety protocols. In emergency medicine, teams run trauma drills and assign roles long before a patient comes through the door. In crisis training, decision-makers should be introduced to systems thinking, recognizing that issues rarely stay in their lanes. A trade tariff, for example, might emerge as a supply chain concern but quickly spiral into a tangle of legal, financial, strategic, and reputational risks.
Organizational theorist Ian Mitroff described every serious crisis as a “wicked mess,” a system of interconnected, highly interactive problems. Building resilience means recognizing that complexity and avoiding tunnel vision, which occurs when attention is limited to a single issue while other related problems are ignored.
Think of it like a Jenga tower: if a few bricks are loose or missing, the entire structure is at risk of collapsing. At the top of that structure, there must be a champion, a senior leader who demonstrates through words and actions that resilience isn’t just a passing trend. It’s a long-term commitment. That tone from the top sets behaviors and expectations. For example, it means ensuring that communicators are brought in the tent early, working in sync with legal and operational teams to build alignment and trust before a crisis occurs.
In the middle of this Jenga tower sits the core pillars of preparedness: risk assessment, planning, and training. These bricks reinforce one another in a continuous learning loop. Risk insights shape the scenarios teams train on, while simulations expose vulnerabilities that inform crisis plan updates.
At the base of the tower lies early detection, the ability to spot and respond to weak signals before they become headlines. Organizations that embed foresight and mitigation into daily routines — not just crisis playbooks — are far better equipped to take positive action rather than merely react when the unexpected hits.
Practice: Turning Theory Into Action
Resilience is a muscle built through repetition, and the second phase of the learning arc is dedicated to practice. Training provides a safe space to test knowledge, experiment with techniques, and recalibrate responses. Just as actors rehearse lines, pilots run simulations, and emergency care staff drill for high-pressure scenarios, crisis teams practice making decisions, taking action, and communicating under realistic conditions.
Case studies — both success stories and cautionary tales — are the backbone of effective training. A strong program should include at least 10 recent, relevant examples drawn from inside and outside the organization’s sector to broaden the field of vision and sharpen judgment.
Some crises, such as Johnson & Johnson’s Tylenol recall, Maple Lead Foods’ response to the listeria outbreak, or Maersk’s public reflections on a major cyberattack, are well-documented and frequently used in training environments. Others can be reverse-engineered using media analysis and a structured debriefing framework:
- What happened?
- How did the organization respond?
- How did stakeholders react?
- Were there early warning signals?
While participants may never know exactly what unfolded behind closed doors, that uncertainty mirrors the unknowns of real-world crisis conditions. Unpacking assumptions and practicing decisions with incomplete information is a vital part of learning. Case study insights should also be tested against the organization’s current crisis plan to identify and close critical gaps before the next test begins.
Rehearsal: Stress Testing Crisis Capabilities
The final stage of the learning arc is rehearsal. In aviation, it’s the full-flight simulation. In the theatre, the dress rehearsal. In emergency care, the code drill. In crisis training, it’s a scenario-based simulation designed to replicate real pressure with no pause button.
When the damaged Apollo 13 spacecraft was limping home, NASA didn’t guess. They simulated every option until they found a safe path back. Crisis teams follow the same logic: rehearse, adapt, build confidence. Simulations help decision-makers identify pressure points in high-probability, high-impact scenarios, foster cross-functional trust, and develop a shared language for response. They create the neural pathways required to act swiftly and effectively under stress.
Training formats vary depending on goals and team roles. Options may include full-scale crisis simulations, lighter tabletop exercises, off-site role-play, or media training embedded in broader crisis management frameworks. Regardless of format, each session should conclude with a candid debrief to surface blind spots and consolidate learning.
Where To Begin
One persistent corporate myth is that readiness equals a polished crisis plan and that training can’t begin until it’s complete. This mindset creates the illusion that resilience is a binder on a shelf. In reality, it’s a team ready to take positive action in the face of uncertainty, and paralysis is its opposite.
The good news? There’s no need to boil the ocean. If this decade has taught us anything, it’s that the strongest crisis management programs are built on continuous learning and steady progress, not perfection.
Resilience as a Strategic Advantage
The stakes are rising, and so is uncertainty. With stretched resources and complex internal dynamics, many organizations hesitate to invest in crisis readiness. Progress often stalls until something goes wrong. Yet it doesn’t have to take a breach or a scandal to build momentum.
As the saying goes, experience is a hard teacher — she gives the test first and the lesson afterward. Crisis training flips that script. In a volatile world, the ability to fail safely and learn quickly may be the edge that sets resilient leaders and organizations apart.
Looking to connect with others who are navigating the complexities of crisis communications? Join us at IABC World Conference 2025 in Vancouver, 8-11 June, for the first in-person meet-up of the new Crisis Communications Shared Interest Group (SIG). This global community brings together communicators tackling high-stakes challenges across industries. It’s an opportunity to exchange ideas, build resilience, and shape the future of crisis response. More details will be available soon.