10 Commandments of Emergency Management

This week's article was taken from HERE, as published by Eric Holdeman.  I located this tongue in cheek delight while researching another article to write for you.  This is a great snapshot of crisis management and crisis leadership from an Emergency Management Director/Officer/Manager, etc.  My comments are in BLUE next to Holdeman's thoughts.

It was Sunday morning and my wife and I had skipped church.  I was in the backyard pruning a burning bush when a voice came into my head and suggested that I could do penance by writing about the ten commandments of emergency management. The woman’s voice said she would show me the way. The conversation went something like this:

“Thou must establish relationships with others,” she said. I asked a clarifying question — not the best thing to do. “With whom?” The answer was simple, “With everyone — public sector, private sector, industries, nonprofits and anyone else who can help build your program.” “Sounds pretty inclusive.” “It is,” she replied.  I attended an ICS lessons learned from the 9/11 Pentagon Response.  The leading FBI Agent said, "9/12 is NOT the time to exchange business cards."  He's exactly right.  We should make our contacts, build relationships, and establish mutual trust prior to the disaster or crisis, otherwise, we are playing catchup in a dynamic situation. 

“Thou shall not construct any programmatic idols.” Dummy me, I asked, “Like what?” She said, “Don’t think you have any magic-bullet solutions. Yes, you have the Incident Command System, but that’s not the solution to every problem. Think outside the box and be creative.”  Emergency Management is out of the box thinking.  We have to be quick and be resourceful.  The answer today is not the answer tomorrow. 

“Thou shall not complain about not having enough funding. For if you do, what has been given to you might be taken away in an instant.”

“Thou shall take some time off — all work and no play makes Jack and Jill dullards.” This is one that made sense to me. I kept my mouth shut and thought this would be the first commandment I’d pass along to my boss at work the next day. Should I ask for two weeks off? Maybe a month?

“Thou shall honor the DHS and FEMA so that they will be well with thee.” Now I’m thinking that she maybe was getting mixed up with her instructions, since this made no sense to me. So I asked, “Why is that?” Somewhat annoyed, she replied, “You want grants, don’t you? Fill out the paperwork, do the reports and always ask for more money than you need since you know you’re going to be cut.”

“Thou shall not make enemies of others.” She went on to point out that, “Friends come and go — enemies you keep forever. Remember you can’t make people and agencies cooperate with you.”  One thing I have learned while working in and around pubic service, is that politics play a huge role.  Unfortunately, making enemies is sometimes unavoidable.  However, if professional respect is given, regardless of disagreements, enemies can be avoided.  The point the author is trying to make, is that in a time of crisis, you want to be able to call on neighboring agencies and jurisdictions for assistance.  If you make enemies of people you rely upon, your call for assistance may not be carried out as quickly or efficiently as it could be.

“Thou shall keep your promises and promise less and deliver more.” This commandment immediately struck home. I was always trying to do more than what my staff and resources would allow. Self explanatory - if you make a promise, you must keep it.  Once you lose this trust, it most often is lost forever.  That being said, make less promises.  Sometimes, we must give the answer, "No," to a request or question.  With this thought, if you are a supervisor, you should check with your staff before promising to deliver on a request.  After all, they are the ones delivering your promise.

“Thou shall steal all the ideas you can.” This one seemed negative to me, based on my memories of the original Ten Commandments, so I suggested that maybe this would be inappropriate. “Nay lad,” she said, “you are to use all good ideas, no matter where they come from. Someone else has plowed that field for you.”After all, why re-invent the wheel.  If you steal other's ideas in Emergency Management, it's not theft, it's using your resources.  Also, it allows you to use their lessons learned.

“Thou shall not talk bad about other jurisdictions or persons.” Since this had become a national sport, I was thinking it might be a tough one to give up anytime soon. With a booming voice, she pointed out how this commandment and No. 6 are related.

“Thou shall not covet thy neighbor’s grant funding.” This one made me think of all the money that New York City gets and how smaller jurisdictions always complain and think about what they could do with a fraction of the funding that the city receives every year.  I can state, with absolution, that finger pointing and "coveting" directly impact emergency/crisis planning.  A project I was involved was calling for dramatic Federal policy and program changes.  While the end result was justifiable and noble, the reasoning the agency was using was simply, "Other jurisdictions are receiving similar treatment, we want it too." Focus on your capabilities and what you have received and push forward.  It may be completely unfair that another jurisdiction or division receives something you genuinely need.  However, spending time focusing on that is wasting time and energy.

Keep these thoughts in mind as we interact with our emergency management and business continuity partners.  Establish relationships, meet counterparts and expand your knowledge base.