The Coronavirus: The Complete Toll of What It Is Doing to Our Lives
by Ian I Mitroff
As one of the principal founders of the modern field of Crisis Management, I can say unequivocally that the kinds of crises we are facing now are worse than those with which the field began some 40 years. If we are to stand any chance of preparing better for future crises, it’s absolutely crucial to take account of the differences.
First, very briefly, a “crisis” is an “unexpected event that has the very real potential to cause all kinds of significant harm, injuries, and even deaths.”
Second, let me list the basic types with which the field began. They follow the general order in which they were initially recognized:
Product defects/recalls/tampering
Product/service/logo tampering
Employee sabotage
Fires, explosions, chemical spills
Environmental disasters
Significant drop in revenues/financial
Natural hazards
Loss of confidential/sensitive information
Terrorism
Ethical breaches
Government/Regulatory
Product Defects/Recalls/Tampering is listed first because the 1982 cyanide poisoning of Tylenol capsules that led to the deaths of seven people in a suburb outside of Chicago essentially started the field of Crisis Management. Unfortunately, the person or persons who did the act were never caught so that their motives were never ascertained.
With the Coronavirus, it’s taken an even worse turn. It’s given rise to the serious possibility of the deliberate tampering with face masks and other protective equipment to affect scores of people and do incalculable harm. It also covers the case of the intentional and unintentional manufacturing of faulty masks and other protective equipment.
What makes this type so horrific is that the very things that are supposed to protect and make us feel safer become instruments of serious harm. It gives rise to the awful feeling of “Who and what can one trust?” As such, it not only affects us physically, but mentally as well. Indeed, it makes us confront the category of Mental Health Crises which are conspicuously missing from the initial list. As the Coronavirus shows, anxiety and depression are some of its most troubling aspects. But then, Public Health Crises were also missing from the initial list as well.
As a corollary to the above, Domestic Abuse has also increased due to the demands of increased isolation and constant contact. And as grandparents, my wife and I are aware of the toll the Virus has taken on our grandson and other kids, and of course the parents. Along with adults, kids are swearing more and “melting down” with greater and more frequent outbursts.
Product/Service/Logo Tampering refers to the fact that in 1985 a fringe group saw a Proctor and Gamble logo featuring a sorcerer-like figure as a “Satanic Symbol.” Therefore, the company was in league with the Devil. Putting it mildly, it was a premier example of the Projection of a group’s disturbed inner states onto others. Today, it’s expanded to include the attribution of the worst motives possible to other societies. Thus, President Trump has called the Coronavirus the “Chinese Virus.” To make things worse, it’s even been alluded that it was manufactured and released by a Chinese lab.
Employee Sabotage has always been high up on the list. Once again, it conjures up images of the deliberate tampering with face masks and other protective equipment. As a result, companies are under more pressure than ever to balance the increased demands of employee vigilance versus creating an oppressive corporate culture in which everyone distrusts one another.
The category Fires, Explosions, Chemical Spills refers primarily to those manufacturing facilities such as oil refineries where they are always a real possibility. With regard to the Virus, it’s no exaggeration to say that it’s spread like “wildfire.” The point is that each of the types must taken metaphorically, not literally.
The Virus is linked with Environmental Disasters in an unexpected, but benign way, namely their absence. The fact that people have curtailed unnecessary driving has proven a boom to the health of the planet. However, it cannot be taken for granted. One can easily conjure up scenarios where a Disaster occurs at the same time as a Global Pandemic making it more difficult to treat either one.
Early on, the more commonly accepted term “Natural Disasters” was replaced by “Natural Hazards..” The reason is that it is humans not Mother Nature who make the crucial decisions where to build houses and to what building codes and standards, for example, to withstand earthquakes. In this way, all crises bear the indelible imprint of humans, and in this sense are “Human Caused.” Indeed, fracking is reputed to contribute to earthquakes.
The fact that the Virus has caused incalculable financial harm bordering on a Depression needs little comment. But what does is the fact that like all major crises, it’s given rise to scams and the all-too-real possibility of Profiteering. Indeed, Significant Drops in Revenues/Financial is a major part of virtually all major crises.
Given that testing is never perfect, Loss of Confidential/Sensitive Information takes on special meaning. Namely, what safeguards are there—indeed, need to be—in order to protect personal information as to whether one has tested positive or not for the Virus? Given the role that Social Media play in the spread of dis and misinformation, and even worse conspiracy theories, this type has become especially worrisome.
Terrorism obviously figured prominently in 9/11. For this reason, it’s not hard to envision how it might play a significant role in future Pandemics. Once again, the Chinese have been charged—falsely—of releasing the Virus from a lab.
Ethical Breaches and Government/Regulatory also take on a special meaning. The fact that virtually all of the systems that were supposed to protect us and make our lives better failed spectacularly can be viewed as a fundamental breach of Ethical Responsibility. Just as telling is the pushback against reasonable Governmental orders to shelter in place.
In this regard is a totally new category is Crazy Logic. President Trump excels daily at it. For instance, “Testing only makes things worse.” In other words, “Ignorance is prized!” For another is his “suggestion” that “ingesting disinfectants might prove ‘helpful’ in containing the Virus.”
Along with Public Health, the failure to include Vulnerable Populations and Threats to Education is also a serious mark against the initial list of crises.
The point is that the world keeps manufacturing new forms and types all the time. The list is never complete or finished. Thus, Technological Crises are a very important category. Gene editing technologies have given rise to the fears that rank amateurs can use it to creates virtual monsters. God forbid that it happens at the same time as a Global Pandemic, or anytime for that matter. And, once again, Technology is also involved by means of Social Media.
As the Coronavirus painfully shows, one of the most important aspects of the entire catastrophe is the fact that all of the various types are interconnected in a myriad of ways, known and unknown. Each is more than capable of setting off all of the others. Thus, what initially began as a Global Pandemic quickly became a major Economic, Political/Governmental, Credibility, Educational, Nursing Home/Vulnerable Population Crisis, and so on. Who knows what the configuration will be next time? But one thing is for certain. All of them are part of a complex messy system, and must be considered as such.
This points to another aspect that was not taken into account. Public Health Officials have been warning for years of the serious possibility of a Global Pandemic, but the warnings were ignored and even blocked by the Trump Administration. Furthermore, the budgets of the major Public Health Agencies were cut hampering our response.
Another contributing factor is the fact that while simulations were conducted for a Major Pandemic, to my knowledge, none were conducted for all of the various types acting and interacting as a total system. Indeed, what body, governmental or otherwise, is charged with attending to the whole? Talk about a serios defect in the system.
In sum, while all of the individual types of crises can be identified and thus labelled by name, they neither exist nor function by themselves. In the end, the biggest failure is our inability and unwillingness to think and act systemically.
The next Pandemic will be even less forgiving for not learning the key lessons of the Coronavirus.
Ian I. Mitroff is credited as being one of the principal founders of the modern field of Crisis Management.
He has a BS, MS, and a PhD in Engineering and the Philosophy of Social Systems Science from UC Berkeley.
He Is Professor Emeritus from the Marshall School of Business and the Annenberg School of Communication at USC.
Currently, he is a Senior Research Affiliate in the Center for Catastrophic Risk Management, UC Berkeley.
He is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the American Academy of Management.
He has published 38 books, his most recent is:
Techlash: The Future of the Socially Responsible Tech Organization, Springer, New York, 2020.