The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes - and Why

by Amanda Ripley

6. Train Your Brain By far, the best way to improve performance is to practice. Once you know your real risks, think creatively about how to give yourself or your family a dress rehearsal. The brain loves body memory. It is much better to stop, drop, and roll than to talk about stopping, dropping, and rolling. For example, we know that fires generally kill more people than all other disasters combined. (If you are poor or African American, your chances of being in a fire are particularly high.) So give your brain something to work with. Make surprise drills an annual tradition in your office or home. Take the stairs down to the ground—don’t just stare at the stairwell door. Create incentives so that people want to do this. This is not hard, but it is still rare. For example, have the boss tell everyone they have to go on a fire drill. That is absolutely essential. Have the boss explain why it matters (because our brains turn to mush in a real fire, and we often lose our eyesight because of smoke). Then announce that the official meeting spot will be the coffee shop two blocks away, where the boss will buy everyone coffee. That way, you boost office morale at the same time. Over doughnuts, tell the story of Rick Rescorla from the Conclusion of this book—or your own tale of walking through hellfire. Storytelling is essential to survival. It’s what turns preparation into ritual and victims into saviors.