Which Came First, the Crisis Story or How We Define a Crisis? The Answer: Both.
We help define what is a crisis in the telling.
Our tendencies toward storytelling mean we are defining what is a crisis as we share the narrative. It’s a circular thing. That’s because the way we define a crisis also shapes how we tell the story of crisis, how we respond to it, and how others react to our response (and yes, denial of a crisis is a response.).
Let’s pause, however, and consider defining it, which may not be that straightforward. Researchers, for example, have a variety of takes, including that it is:
“a significant threat to operations that can have negative consequences if not handled properly.”
“a specific, unexpected and nonroutine event or series of events that create high levels of uncertainty and simultaneously present an organization with both opportunities for and threats to its high-priority goals.”
“a major occurrence with a potentially negative outcome affecting the organization, company, or industry, as well as its products, services, or reputation. A crisis interrupts normal business transactions and can sometimes threaten the existence of the organization.”
At first glance, these definitions seem different. Yet they each share an important characteristic: they view crisis primarily from inside the organization. That makes sense because, crisis managers, executives, communications teams, and frontline employees are all focused on protecting the organization and restoring normal operations. Their immediate concern is often, "How do we get through this so the business can continue?" But crisis storytelling requires us to look beyond the organization's walls. For example, how individuals make sense of the mix of organizational and interpersonal crisis goes beyond organizational aspects—there is the need to process crisis, to tell the story of it, so that the individual can attempt to rectify to themselves how the uncertainty that the crisis provoked.
These definitions also fail to acknowledge that, in almost all cases, stakeholders are the ones who determine whether an event is a crisis. With that in mind, a co-author and I proposed a different definition in our 2017 book on crisis management, Crisis Communication and Crisis Management: An Ethical Approach :
“An organizational crisis is an event that is often unexpected, inherently disruptive, and greatly determined by the stakeholders of an institution.”
For interpersonal crises, much of this definition holds true. Simply adjust the sentence this way:
“An interpersonal crisis is an event that is often unexpected, inherently disruptive, and greatly determined through the perspectives, values, and interests of the individuals involved.”
Every crisis has a backstory. There are usually clues, decisions, missed opportunities, and warning signs that precede the headline event. Understanding that narrative arc helps us communicate more effectively and helps organizations learn from what happened.
For all of us who heed the signs of crises around us, we need to understand that how we define a crisis is shaped by the stories we and others tell, and the meaning we collectively assign to events.