Golden Triangle of Operations Policy and Communication by: Stijn Pieters and Hugo Marynissen
The authors wrote this book out of a necessity and demand from the healthcare sector. They operate under the idea that the quintessential crisis management book has not yet been written, and perhaps never will be. (Nigel Lightfoot)
In the epilogue, the authors provide some psychological reflections on crisis management, emphasizing the mental exhaustion often involved. They discuss how fear, greed, and herd behavior can manifest during a crisis. They also highlight the importance of understanding how everyone perceives crisis management differently. Many see their jobs in the healthcare sector as a series of personal crises. They also argue that detailed plans do not work well. From there, they delve into what truly matters: an approach rather than a detailed plan, specifically focusing on the so-called golden triangle consisting of Policy (the Crisis Management Team), Operations (with its Crisis Response Team), and Communication (with its Crisis Communication Team). What has been retained from this?
Chapter 1 begins with a strong argument for having liaisons, likely due to the importance of optimal information flow during crisis management. However, it must always be kept in mind that no one in the crisis teams can succeed in having a complete picture. Constantly assessing the situation is therefore a must. Everyone in the golden triangle must do this for their own team and for others. The scalability of the crisis organigram is also important. Within this organigram, there should be a single SPOC present for the outside world. Towards the end of the chapter, it discusses task-thinking and role-thinking. It appears that people become less critical and less creative when they focus on only one role. The chapter ultimately arrives at the IBOBBO cycle by former Antwerp fire brigade commander Chris Addiers and the necessity of exercises. These are all aspects that are important in the collaboration of teams within the golden triangle.
Chapter two of Golden Triangle of Operations Policy and Communication, discusses the operations team on the ground. The authors provide an in-depth explanation of the five disciplines and their responsibilities. Important concepts here include the engine hood meeting, perimeters, and command post operations. It is important to remember that this is the team that works at the highest pace. They must solve the problems at the source. Pronounced flexibility is therefore strictly necessary.
Chapter three covers the policy team. These are the strategists of crisis management, and they must focus on the medium and long term, referring to the vision and values. For them, the Pareto principle is important: do not strive for 100% results, but achieve 80% with 20% effort. This is linked to the essence of agility, via four agility conditions. However, the CMT must also be very careful not to fall into the classic trap of wanting to interfere too much with the tasks of the CRT. This is the most common mistake.
Chapter four discusses the crisis communication team. There are also a number of rules to follow here, with speed and accuracy taking precedence over completeness. This helps prevent or combat an information vacuum. By being the first to go public, your organization is perceived as a reliable source. The CCT also has its own cycle: the crisis communication work process (WPCC); this was created to reconcile the contradictions between perception vs. reality and no information vs. the increasing demand for it. The goal here is to alleviate the fear and uncertainty among citizens resulting from the crisis situation.
Golden Triangle of Operations Policy and Communication concludes with an epilogue. They begin with a quote from Dwight D. Eisenhower: “Plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.” This sums up that the world is not ideal, and people make mistakes. There are several reasons why people make mistakes, but perhaps the most important for this book is that crisis management does not align with ‘regular’ management. The workflows are completely different. One solution that can help is to incorporate IBOBBO into daily operations. But even then, during a crisis, most employees will revert to their own values and norms, not those of the organization. The authors end with a call to practice. Übung macht den Meister!