Snow Day

Drawing on the accounts of people who manage risk and crises, this book looks at how executives are tasked with building resilience and steering their organizations through emergencies. Its timeline runs from the attacks of September 11 to the COVID-19 pandemic and covers the difficult question of who has the authority to declare a crisis, along with events ranging from business interruptions to mass-casualty incidents. Each situation is examined for the pressure to make the correct decision in time.

The author presents concrete cases. Among them are the evacuation and shelter-in-place instructions issued on 9/11, which either protected or endangered lives, and a snowstorm in Atlanta that trapped thousands of schoolchildren inside their schools and aboard buses on the roads. Throughout, the book asks how far crisis planning, technology and training were actually used, and shows how much those choices mattered. The pandemic is treated as the largest disruption of all. Business leaders describe their reasoning, feelings and firsthand experiences in their own words.

The book also explores the psychological toll of crises on employees and on their long-term wellbeing, drawing on interviews with leading medical specialists. It reviews the tools and services available for predicting and managing critical events. Written with a sober tone, it serves as a warning about what is at stake in dangerous times and as a practical guide to getting through them.