Philosopher's Notes Conquering Crisis

Conquering Crisis

Ten Lessons to Learn Before You Need Them

About the Book

Brian's take

Admiral William H. McRaven is one of my Heroes. I admire so much about him, his decades of service to protect our freedoms, his embodiment of the ideals I aspire to embody, and the clarity of his thinking and writing. This is the fifth Note I’ve created on one of his books, and Conquering Crisis might be the most practically valuable yet because it’s a clear playbook for leading when it matters most. McRaven walks us through the five phases of a crisis (assess, report, contain, shape, manage) and then gives us ten lessons to learn before we need them. Big Ideas we explore include the five phases and ten lessons, “I own this!” extreme ownership, entropy and decisive action, the dynamic balance of speed and preparation, and morale as a leadership superpower.

“In a crisis, take every action possible to demonstrate transparency, answer every difficult question, and showcase the truth.”

It is your best defense against the uninformed.

Admiral William H. McRaven

“In fact, the overabundance of information makes finding the right information more difficult than ever.”

Admiral William H. McRaven

“Bad news isn’t wine.”

It doesn’t improve with age.

General COlin Powell

“The wise man bridges the gap by laying out the path by means of which he can get from where he is to where he wants to go.”

J.P. Morgan

“You can’t let the momentum of the game dictate your actions; you have to stay in control and shift it in your favor.”

Serena Williams

“You must find opportunities, however small, that you can resolve quickly, thereby reducing the scope of the crisis and giving you the chance to make better decisions, muster your resources, and master the outcome.”

Admiral William H. McRaven

“My father, an old World War II fighter pilot, used to always caution me to ‘make a decision before you run out of runway.”

Admiral William H. McRaven

“To lose patience is to lose the battle.”

Mahatma Gandhi

“Give attention to the details and excellence will come.”

Oprah Winfrey

“Morale is about setting high standards, holding people accountable, valuing the work of your employees, and above all, showing you care about their well-being.”

Admiral William H. McRaven

The Five Phases of a Crisis

27:48

Introduction

From the book

“Leadership during a crisis is fundamentally different from running an organization day to day.

I have seen many a good leader wither under the pressure of a crisis. That’s not to say that the basics of leadership aren’t important during an emergency—they are. As a strong leader, during a crisis you must continue to be ethical, work hard, be confident, communicate with your workforce, and have a plan to address the problem. But a crisis brings an added layer of difficulty. A crisis pushes the limits of your experience. It challenges your confidence. It strains your team’s morale and stretches your organizational resources. It entices you to take risks, and it exposes every flaw in your personality and your organizational culture. To effectively lead through a crisis, you need additional tools. Like The Wisdom of the Bullfrog, this book is a series of stories from my career and my life. Stories with lessons. Lessons that I hope will provide the reader concrete steps to take when engulfed in a crisis—recognizing the danger of first reports, learning to weaponize the truth, managing time constraints, communicating effectively, maintaining organizational morale and esprit de corps, finding the best advice, prioritizing your options, and, most important, solving the crisis. Conquering Crisis is not just about surviving a difficult time; it is about thriving in a crisis, coming out stronger both personally and organizationally. Conquering Crisis will provide you the tools you need to be a successful leader when the unexpected arises. Whether trapped on the far side of the moon or ensnared in a public relations nightmare, sooner or later, every leader experiences a crisis. Get ready now!”

Brian's Notes

Admiral William H.

McRaven is one of my Heroes.

I admire so much about him—his decades of service to protect our freedoms, his embodiment of the ideals I aspire to embody, and the clarity of his thinking and writing.

This is the FIFTH Note I’ve created on one of his books.

I’ve read all of his previous books—which are all *packed* with wisdom. Check out the Notes on: Make Your Bed (which he published after his commencement address went viral), Sea Stories (his autobiography), The Hero Code, and The Wisdom of the Bullfrog.

Admiral McRaven spent thirty-seven years as a Navy SEAL. He commanded at every level. As a Four-Star Admiral, his final assignment was as Commander of all US Special Operations Forces. After retiring from the Navy, he served as the Chancellor of the University of Texas System from 2015 to 2018.

As with all of his books, this one is written in his Spartan-like, pithy style. No words are wasted. It’s packed with wisdom.

The primary objective? To not only CONQUER the inevitable crises we, as leaders, will face, but to use those challenges as FUEL to get stronger—to FORGE ANTIFRAGILE CONFIDENCE as we become the best, most Heroic version of ourselves in service to something bigger than ourselves.

I’m excited to share some of my favorite Ideas and help you apply them to your life TODAY. Let’s get to work!

BIG IDEA

The Five Phases of a Crisis

From the book

“In my experience, there are five phases of a crisis.

Depending on the circumstances, each phase will vary in length and intensity. The first step is always the Assessment. What’s going on? How bad is the catastrophe? How will it affect my organization? Correctly assessing the situation is key to what follows. Next is the Reporting phase. As a leader, you will have to report to your boss, your clients, your workforce, and the public. Accuracy in reporting is essential. Never mislead any of your constituents. Then comes the Containment phase. This is the most complex, necessitating a balance of speed and caution. Rarely do leaders get this phase exactly right. But knowing a balance is required is crucial. The containment phase is about preventing the crisis from getting worse. It generally requires the maximum amount of resources, strategically placed. You must stop the crisis’s momentum to get the situation in hand. Once contained, you must Shape the outcome in your favor. Now the momentum is on your side. Finally, you must Manage the crisis. This could be a long-term proposition and requires a thoughtful use of manpower and resources until the crisis is resolved.”

Brian's Notes

That’s from the Introduction.

The passage follows the story of a time Admiral McRaven met one of *his* heroes, Captain Jim Lovell.

Lovell, as McRaven tells the story, “along with Jack Swigert and Fred Haise were the crew of Apollo 13 when on April 13, 1970, on their way to the moon, an oxygen tank exploded in the service module. The explosion forced them to abandon the command module (CM) and move to the much smaller lunar module (LM). The LM had very limited resources, lacking sufficient power, water, and oxygen for the three astronauts.”

How did Lovell and his fellow astronauts conquer that crisis? They embodied the ideals McRaven discusses in the book and, more specifically, followed the five phases of a crisis—which are, to recap: Assess, Report, Contain, Shape, and Manage.

As I look back at the crises I have navigated over the last several years, I can see exactly those phases.

(How about you?)

And, knowing that future crises are an inevitable part of any leader’s life, I’m fired up to help us focus on McRaven’s “Ten Lessons to Learn Before You Need Them.”

(How about you?)

Here’s a quick look at those 10 Lessons:

1. First Reports Are Always Wrong: Owing to the chaotic nature of a crisis, a leader should always be skeptical about first reports. They are invariably inaccurate or misleading.

2. Have a Council of Colonels: In a crisis, having a team of trusted advisors is essential for success.

3. Bad News Doesn’t Get Better with Age: Delaying a painful truth never makes a situation easier. The sooner you inform your boss about a crisis, the quicker you can resolve it.

4. Weaponize the Truth: Be transparent in your actions to resolve a crisis. The truth can be a great weapon against misperception and trust.

5. Move All Your Options Forward: In a crisis, your choice of actions may be constrained by a lack of information. Therefore, always have multiple options available and at the ready.

6. Trust the Second Law of Thermodynamics: Crises never get better through inaction.

7. Don’t Rush to Failure: In a crisis there is always the need to move quickly, but… don’t move so fast that you outpace your planning, your preparation, your resources, or your strategy.

8. Micromanagement Is Not an Ugly Word: During a crisis, you must make certain that those responsible for managing the outcome know precisely what you expect of them.

9. Dictate the Tempo: Every crisis has a pace at which it unfolds. A leader must act quickly and decisively so the tempo of the crisis doesn’t overwhelm your ability to respond effectively.

10. There Is Always Time for a Morale Check: You must manage your time so you can dedicate sufficient effort into maintaining the morale of your team. Without high morale, the quality of the organization’s work will suffer, and your response will be less effective.

P.S. Reading the story about Lovell and his fellow Heroic astronauts makes me want to rewatch Apollo 13!

BIG IDEA

“I Own This!”

From the book

“On November 2, 2017, the chief of naval operations, Admiral John Richardson, stood before the American public and outlined in detail the Navy’s failures.

His report was raw, candid, and acknowledged every shortcoming. ‘There was a failure to plan for safety,’ he said. ‘A failure to adhere to sound navigational practices. A failure to execute basic watch standing procedures. A failure to properly use available navigation tools. A failure to respond deliberately and effectively when in extremis of collision. A loss of situational awareness. A failure to follow the international rules of the road. And for the McCain, insufficient knowledge and proficiency of the ship’s steering system.’ Richardson then continued to detail the Navy’s plans to fix the problems. Later, during a hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee chaired by the man whose name was on the back of the USS John S. McCain, Richardson said, ‘I own this!’ Every known detail of the collision of the Fitzgerald and the McCain was reported to the public. Every failure was elaborated. Every poor decision was reviewed. Every name of everyone responsible was made public. Richardson even sent the report to all the allied Chiefs of Navy, his colleagues and peers. John Richardson understood that the only way out of a crisis is to ensure that the truth and transparency lead the way.”

Brian's Notes

That’s from chapter: “Weaponize the Truth.”

As I read that (particularly the “I own this!” response from Admiral Richardson), I thought of Jocko Willink and wisdom from his great leadership book: Extreme Ownership.

Jocko tells us: “I explained that as the officer in charge of training for the West Coast SEAL Teams, we put SEAL units through highly demanding scenarios to get them ready for combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. When SEAL leaders were placed in worst-case-scenario training situations, it was almost always the leaders’ attitudes that determined whether their SEAL units would ultimately succeed or fail. We knew how hard the training missions were because we had designed them.

In virtually every case, the SEAL troops and platoons that didn’t perform well had leaders who blamed everyone and everything else—their troops, their subordinate leaders, or the scenario. They blamed the SEAL training instructor staff; they blamed inadequate equipment or the experience level of their men. They refused to accept responsibility. Poor performance and mission failure were the result.

The best-performing SEAL units had leaders who accepted responsibility for everything. Every mistake, every failure or shortfall—those leaders would own it. During the debrief after a training mission, those good SEAL leaders took ownership of failures, sought guidance on how to improve, and figured out a way to overcome challenges on the next iteration. The best leaders checked their egos, accepted blame, sought out constructive criticism, and took detailed notes for improvement. They exhibited Extreme Ownership, and as a result, their SEAL platoons and task units dominated.”

In other words, they said, “I OWN THIS.”

Do YOU?

P.S. Each chapter has a brief summary of the lessons at the end.

Here’s this chapter’s:

1. Use truth and transparency through the crisis to show that you understand the problem and are taking concrete steps to resolve the issue. It may be uncomfortable, demoralizing to the organization, and personally embarrassing, but deception and opaqueness are a whole lot worse.

2. Stand in full view of the public eye, take the hard questions, accept the criticism, and answer truthfully. Get all the negative reporting behind you so you can begin to move forward.

3. If there are whistleblowers who generated the crisis, praise them for their courage. Any attempt to suppress criticism from within will only result in a public backlash.

BIG IDEA

Entropy

From the book

“‘I’m sorry, Admiral, but what does entropy have to do with national security?’ the major said. ‘I’m so very glad you asked.

So, the second law of thermodynamics says that in an isolated system, the total entropy can never decrease over time and that the natural process tends to move toward a state of maximum entropy.’ The class still looked confused, but before I could continue, one of the students blurted out, ‘Oh, entropy is chaos. You’re saying unless something changes, the natural state moves toward chaos.’ ‘Right you are.’ I smiled. ‘And while my analogy may be stretched a bit, my experience is crises don’t get better over time. You must do something to keep the natural process from moving toward a maximum state of chaos.’… ‘I call this the ‘Strategic Decision Curve.’ It isn’t mathematically defendable,’ I said, ‘but what I’ve found is that when you fail to make a difficult decision early on, over time that decision gets harder because the crisis gets more complex. Unfortunately, most decision-makers fail to act quickly because the crisis hasn’t evolved yet and they believe they have time to address the problem.’”

Brian's Notes

McRaven is a Professor of National Security at the Lyndon B.

Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas. That story is from one of his classes.

It’s from chapter: “Trust the Second Law of Thermodynamics.”

The sub-title to the chapter perfectly summarizes the main point: “Crises never get better through inaction.”

This thought from McRaven ALSO perfectly summarizes the main point: “What I have learned over my forty years of leadership through crisis, or just bad times, is that unless you take decisive action, things rarely get better.”

Admiral McRaven concludes the chapter with this wisdom: “Decisive action always comes with risk. The risk that you might be wrong. The risk that you might bumble the operation. The risk that others might not approve. You are risking your personal reputation and the reputation of your organization you work for. These are all valid concerns. But the second law of thermodynamics has never been proven to be wrong. Left alone, the natural state of things moves toward maximum entropy. In a crisis, if you want to contain and shape the outcome, you will need to take decisive action to keep the situation from devolving into further chaos.”

My Yoda, Phil Stutz, describes that process as the “Instinct Cycle.”

He tells us that a great leader gets clarity on what he or she believes is the right thing to do. Then they make a decision. Then they take action. Then they accept the consequences of that decision. Then they MAKE ANOTHER DECISION. And repeat the process. Forever.

Now… Let’s put the spotlight back where it belongs… On YOU.

Are you facing a crisis? If you’re human, you almost certainly are. It might be with your health, your work, or your relationships. What is it?

Remember that, “left alone, the natural state of things moves toward maximum entropy.”

MAKE A DECISION.

Then take action.

P.S. The quote from Amelia Earhart that precedes this section perfectly summarizes the wisdom within it: “The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity.”

P.P.S. Here’s the summary for this chapter:

1. You must take decisive steps to contain a crisis. If left alone, a crisis will get worse, not better.

2. The longer you delay in taking decisive action, the harder the decision and the action become.

3. There is always a difficult balance between rushing to failure and being slow to act. If you have to choose one or the other—act.

P.P.P.S. As I discussed in my Notes on The Science of Scaling, I recently made a decision to ruthlessly focus on ONE target in the next phase of Heroic.

I have had a wonderful opportunity to practice my philosophy and strive to embody the wisdom McRaven is discussing here.

As I reflected on the importance of being decisive and embracing the inevitable risks associated with leadership, I thought of another extraordinary military leader, General Jim Mattis. In Call Sign Chaos, he tells us: “A leader’s role is problem solving. If you don’t like problems, stay out of leadership.”

And… Remember: As the authors of Lead Yourself First wisely advise us, it’s impossible to forge the clarity, creativity, emotional balance, and moral courage required to lead effectively without SOLITUDE.

So, create some solitude. Be decisive. Take action. And lead well. TODAY.

BIG IDEA

Don’t Rush to Failure

From the book

“In 1711, Alexander Pope, an English poet, wrote a poem entitled ‘An Essay on Criticism.’ At the end of the second long stanza, Pope writes, ‘For fools rush in where angels fear to tread.’ It was a warning to those who take action before carefully considering the consequences.

Two hundred years later, the American military adopted a version of Pope’s famous saying and changed it to ‘Don’t rush to failure,’ but the implications are just the same. If you rush through the planning and the preparation, then it’s likely your actions will be flawed and result in failure. Thirty years after my encounter with Dick Meadows, during the planning for the mission to get Osama bin Laden, I remembered those days in Monterey and Meadows’s cautionary tale. Consequently, even though we had three weeks to prepare, I ensured the SEAL team and the helicopter pilots rehearsed every aspect of the mission. Not once, not twice, but multiple times. We would take our time and do it right. Rushing the mission planning and execution would only get us in trouble. On May 1, 2011, Osama bin Laden was brought to justice, and I hoped that from beyond the grave, Major Dick Meadows was smiling.”

Brian's Notes

That’s from a chapter called “Don’t Rush to Failure,” sub-title: “In a crisis there is always the need to move quickly, but… don’t move so fast you outpace your planning, your preparation, your resources, or your strategy.”

The quote preceding this chapter is from Mahatma Gandhi who tells us: “To lose patience is to lose the battle.”

The wisdom that Major Dick Meadows shared with McRaven when he was a young man working on his master’s thesis on “The Theory of Special Operations” at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, was hard-earned.

It was the result of a failed operation to free hostages in Iran in 1980. The failure was due, in part, to poor coordination among the different branches of the US military which led to the creation of the Special Operations Command that McRaven would lead decades later.

So… We know that SPEED IS A FORCE. And… We need to balance that with thoughtfulness, patience, and planning.

One of John Wooden’s adages comes to mind. In his decades of coaching, he’d constantly be telling his players: “Be quick but don’t hurry.”

It’s always a dynamic balance.

P.S. As I was digging for that Wooden gem in my notes on Wooden, I found this gem as well: “Did I win? Did I lose? Those are the wrong questions. The correct question is: Did I make my best effort? That’s what matters. The rest of it just gets in the way.”

P.P.S. Another thing that came to mind for me as I reflected on the diligence with which McRaven’s SEALs prepped for the operation to capture Osama bin Laden was wisdom from the General who recently retired as Commander of all US Special Operations Forces: Four-Star General Bryan P. Fenton. He’s another man I *deeply* admire.

During a conference a couple years ago, I was privileged to present my thoughts on how to forge Antifragility to the General and his commanding officers. I was the final speaker of the day. I took a dozen pages of notes during the day.

One of the things General Fenton shared will forever be etched in my consciousness. He said that average people practice something until they can get it right while elite Special Forces Operators practice until they can’t get it wrong.

Here’s to embodying that commitment to excellence in every area of our lives.

BIG IDEA

“Morale Check!”

From the book

“‘Is he by himself?’ came a booming voice from outside my office. ‘Yes, sir, but I don’t think now is a good time,’ Kate warned. ‘Of course it is!’ The door swung open, and there stood Tony Cucolo, a retired Army major general now working on my staff.

Tony had served as the deputy commanding general of the 10th Mountain Division in Afghanistan, commanded the 3rd Infantry Division in Iraq, and been president of the Army War College. He had seen more combat than most general officers I knew. Tall, stocky, with broad soldiers, fading blond hair, and wearing his trademark cowboy boots, he yelled, ‘Morale check!’ I shot forward in my chair. ‘Morale check!’ he shouted again. I couldn’t help but laugh. Morale check. It was a familiar refrain to all of us who had served in the military. It was offered by one soldier to another when a gut punch had crushed your spirit and led to unnecessary self-pity. It was a call to man up, smile through the pain or humiliation, and get back to your job.”

Brian's Notes

That’s from the final chapter of the book in which McRaven walks us through a crisis he faced while the Chancellor of the University of Texas System.

I ABSOLUTELY love both the humility with which he shares the story AND the awesomeness with which his friend challenged him to HERO UP, “smile through the pain or humiliation, and get back to your job.”

Let’s put the spotlight back on YOU. Are *you* currently feeling a little (or a lot) overwhelmed by the pressures of leading a noble, virtuous life in the modern world? If you’re human and have high standards, you almost certainly feel the pain of striving to live with excellence in the face of crises.

To which I say, “I love you.” And… “MORALE CHECK!”

It’s time to flip the switch, recommit to moving from Victim to Hero and give the world ALL we’ve got. It’s Day 1. We’re ALL IN. Let’s go, Hero!!!