Mr. Larken points out that high-level managers tend to be very competent at their day-to-day business— they have to be to rise as far as they have. They are not, however, always good at handling a unique and rapidly unfolding crisis, when they have to respond immediately and with only limited information. "A lot of managers assume that crisis is ordinary business accelerated, but you need to organize quite differently and set up different communication," he says.
