Change Management Techniques For Rapid Response

Land the plane. If you’re in it right now, dealing with a missed goal, a major bug, a failed launch, or an angry keystone customer, this is for you. In a crisis, panic and confusion spread fast. Everyone wants answers. The team needs clarity and direction. Without it, morale drops and execution stalls. This is when great operators step up. They cut through noise, anchor to facts, find leverage, and get to work. Your job is to reduce ambiguity, direct energy, and focus the team. Create tangible progress while others spin. Goal #1: Bring the plane down safely. Here’s how to lead through it. Right now: 1. Identify the root cause. Fast. Don’t start without knowing what broke. Fixing symptoms won’t fix the problem. You don’t have time to be wrong twice. 2. Define success. Then get clear on what’s sufficient. What gets us out of the crisis? What’s the minimum viable outcome that counts as a win? This isn’t the time for nice-to-haves. Don’t confuse triage with polish. 3. Align the team. Confusion kills speed. Be explicit about how we’ll operate: Who decides what. What pace we’ll move at. How we’ll know when we’re done Set the system to direct energy. 4. Get moving. Pull the people closest to the problem. Clarify the root cause. Identify priority one. Then go. Get a quick win on the board. Build momentum. Goal one is to complete priority one. That’s it. 5. Communicate like a quarterback Lead the offense. Make the calls. Own the outcome. Give the team confidence to execute without hesitation. Reduce latency. Get everyone in one thread or room. Set fast check-ins. Cover off-hours. Keep signal ahead of chaos. 6. Shrink the loop. Move to 1-day execution cycles. What did we try? What happened? What’s next? Short loops create momentum. Fast learning is fast winning. 7. Unblock the team (and prep the company to help). You are not a status collector. You are a momentum engine. Clear paths. Push decisions. Put partner teams on alert for support. Crises expose systems. And leaders. Your job is to land the plane. Once it’s down, figure out what failed, what needs to change, and how we move forward. Land the plane. Learn fast. Move forward. That’s how successful operators lead through it.

Hope is not a plan. Don’t plan for what’s easy—plan for what will break you. When it comes to emergency management, my philosophy is simple: Think Big. Go Big. Go Fast. Be Smart About It. This isn’t theory. It’s what works when everything else is falling apart. 1. Think Big Plan for the disaster you can’t handle—not the one you can. Too many plans are written for the expected. You’ve got to plan for the event that could crush you. If you only plan for the average storm, the big one will wipe you out. But if you plan for the worst, you can always scale back. Example: If a Category 5 hurricane is possible, don’t base your plan on a Cat 2. Assume the power's out, roads are gone, comms are down, and you’re on your own for days. Can you still operate? 2. Go Big Lead with overwhelming force. Don’t wait to be asked. Disasters move faster than bureaucracy. By the time the official request comes in, it may already be too late. Don’t wait to assess. If it’s bad, move. You can always scale down. You can’t recover lost time. Example: If there’s a fast-moving wildfire or flash flood, surge fire crews, helicopters, trucks—before the paperwork. You can send them home later. But you can't rewind the clock. 3. Go Fast Speed beats perfection. Move now—adjust later. You’re never going to have perfect situational awareness. Waiting for full clarity gives the disaster time to grow. In a crisis, the biggest risk is moving too slow—not making the wrong move. Example: Don’t wait for a confirmed casualty list before launching search-and-rescue. If people are trapped, get boots on the ground. Speed is life. 4. Be Smart About It Use your experience, your partners, and your data. Throwing resources blindly isn’t leadership. You’ve got to think while you move—use what you know and who you trust. You don’t have unlimited fuel, people, or equipment. Make every action count. Example: Tap mutual aid early. Bring in the private sector. Use volunteer networks. This isn’t about control—it’s about coordination and impact. Putting It into Practice Exercises: Don’t run easy drills. Stress the system. Break it. That’s how you find the gaps. Policy: Build in logistics and authority for early action. If you’re waiting for approvals, you’re already behind. Messaging: Be clear. Be fast. No sugarcoating. Culture: Build teams that move fast, take initiative, and trust each other. Bureaucracy kills momentum. Bottom Line Disasters don’t care about your process. They don’t wait for consensus. You either act—or people die. So: Think Big. Go Big. Go Fast. Be Smart About It. That’s how you save lives.

Traditional change management tells us to start small—run pilots, build coalitions, pursue incremental wins. But what if that advice is actually holding you back during turbulent times? New research reveals that a crisis creates windows of opportunity where change becomes easier, not harder. When everything is disrupted, resistance drops, red tape loosens, and people become more open to breaking old habits. The key is shifting your playbook: 📍Select & Reframe: Choose shovel-ready ideas and reframe them as urgent responses. The B&O Railroad Museum used a roof collapse to transform into a significant attraction, tripling its fundraising goal. 📍Move Fast: Windows are brief, often just 6-18 months. One healthcare system launched telehealth in under a year during COVID, becoming a regional leader while competitors lagged. 📍Go Bigger: Forget pilots. Ask for full funding, double your targets, and make the infrastructure changes you've delayed for years. Peter Drucker was right: "The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence itself, but to act with yesterday's logic." #ChangeManagement #Leadership #Crisis