Crisis Management

When a crisis hits an organisation or individuals, it happens quickly and sometimes catastrophically. The normal inclination is to bunker down and defend to the death the status quo. Even though there is little time to exhaustively analyze the situation, it calls for dispassionate reality checks.

A Devil's Advocate who is experienced in crisis management can provide an invaluable process. In 2005, a major manufacturing company panicked because one of the ex-employees died from an asbestos related illness. The company was prepared to spend several million dollars to test all employees. A Devil's Advocate helped resolve the problem quickly by testing the assumptions that the Board of Directors had made. The company went down a different road that modeled an optimal health approach and garnered media support.

A Devil's Advocate outside the system is not trapped by the distractions within the organization. A good Devil's Advocate brings experiences from a variety of other organizations.