assess potentially dangerous situations and bring the parties
together in good time to discuss how to resolve the problems
before they become critical, the dire effects of cussedness can be
avoided. This can happen on the international scene as well as
within organizations. Before the Cuban missile crisis, President
Kennedy had been made aware of 60 nuclear near-disasters,
including the launching of two missiles with nuclear warheads.
He took steps not only to improve the US system of accident
proofing but also to exchange information with the Russians.
The Falklands crisis, however, was a sad story of a complete
failure of the British both to understand how strongly the
Argentines felt about the Malvinas and to appreciate that
President Galtieri was liable to go off the rails.
MANAGEMENT CRISES
In management all sorts of crises can happen: a takeover bid, a
collapse in the foreign exchange rate, a drug which has disas-
trous side-effects, a competitive product which suddenly
appears on the market and wipes the floor with a market leader
brand, an innovation which renders a product obsolete, a sudden
damaging strike, a dishonest senior executive who gets the
company into the headlines, a fire or a flood, the departure of
key members of the management team to competitors, and so on.
The list is endless.
Tolstoy said of marriages: ‘All happy families resemble one
another, but each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.’
The same can be said of crises. Each crisis is a unique event and
has to be dealt with accordingly. However, there are certain types
of behaviour which are appropriate in all critical situations and
there are some general principles that can be followed in crises
involving negotiation or conflict. There are also a number of
crisis management techniques that are generally applicable,
subject to modification to suit particular circumstances.
CRISIS MANAGEMENT BEHAVIOUR
The most important thing to do in a crisis is to keep cool. As
Kipling put it:
158 How to be an Even Better Manager