The Normalization of the Abnormal
We are living in an era of constant crises. Health, climate, geopolitical, and economic crises: shocks are occurring at an unprecedented rate. Between 2020 and 2025, organizations have weathered more disruptions than they did between 1990 and 2015. COVID-19, the war in Ukraine, runaway inflation, geopolitical tensions, and a rise in extreme weather events. This acceleration is not cyclical; it is structural. The world has entered a state of continuous crisis where stability is becoming the exception and turbulence the norm.
For managers, this shift changes everything. Traditional management tools—rigid planning, optimization of stable processes, management by annual objectives—are becoming obsolete. We can no longer “manage” crises as temporary exceptions before returning to normal. We must learn to manage WITHIN the crisis, accepting that it is now the permanent state of affairs. This transformation requires a complete rethinking of managerial skills, approaches, and tools.
The world has entered an era of multiple crises
Systemic interconnections amplify shocks
Crises are no longer isolated; they are systemic. A pandemic triggers a supply chain crisis, which leads to inflation, which in turn generates social tensions that fuel political instability. Each crisis triggers others through a chain reaction that is impossible to fully anticipate.
This systemic interconnection makes management infinitely more complex. A manager can no longer address a problem in isolation. They must understand how their actions will ripple through the system, identify second- and third-order effects, and anticipate feedback loops. Linear thinking (cause A → effect B) is no longer sufficient. We must develop a systems-based approach capable of mapping out these interdependencies.
Faster cycles lead to shorter response times
Crises are occurring in rapid succession, leaving no time for recovery. No sooner has an organization absorbed one shock than another strikes. This time pressure is straining its ability to adapt. Teams have no time to catch their breath, managers are constantly working at full capacity, and decision-making fatigue is setting in.
This acceleration requires a rethinking of how managers handle their time. It is no longer a matter of alternating between periods of crisis (intense) and normal periods (recovery). We must find a sustainable rhythm amid constant intensity, create breathing room even in the midst of turbulence, and preserve cognitive and emotional capacity over the long term.
Structural unpredictability defies forecasting models
Traditional forecasting tools (historical trends, probabilistic models) no longer work. “Black swan” events—unlikely but with major consequences—are becoming more frequent. Who could have predicted a global pandemic in 2020? A war in Europe in 2022? The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in 2023?
This structural unpredictability challenges the illusion of control. Managers can no longer claim to anticipate what will happen. They must develop the ability to navigate in the fog, make decisions despite radical uncertainty, and adjust in real time rather than plan in detail.
What no longer works: outdated management practices
Denial and a wait-and-see attitude
When faced with uncertainty, a natural human reaction is denial. “It’ll blow over,” “It’s not that bad,” “Let’s wait and see.” This wait-and-see attitude can be fatal. Crises escalate exponentially. Waiting just one week too long can turn a manageable problem into a disaster.
We saw this with COVID: organizations that acted quickly as early as February 2020 (implementing remote work, protecting their teams, adapting their business models) weathered the crisis far better than those that waited for “things to settle down.” The cost of inaction far exceeds the cost of early action, even if that action turns out to be partially unnecessary.
A shift toward control and micromanagement
When faced with uncertainty, some managers overreact by trying to control everything. This leads to an increase in reports, meetings, and procedures. This micromanagement creates the illusion of control but paralyzes the organization.
In a crisis, what saves the day is the ability to take decentralized action, not centralized control. Teams on the ground often have a better understanding of the situation than headquarters. Giving them autonomy rather than escalating everything up the chain of command speeds up response times. But this requires trust—a rare commodity in stressful situations.
Top-down and opaque communication
During a crisis, information doesn’t flow freely. Management tends to withhold information “so as not to cause concern,” communicate late, and downplay the severity of the situation. This lack of transparency fuels rumors, demotivates teams, and erodes trust.
Conversely, organizations that weather crises well practice radical transparency: frequent communication, honesty about the severity of the situation, and acknowledging what they don’t know. This transparency builds connections, harnesses collective intelligence, and strengthens resilience.
Short-term optimization at the expense of resilience
When faced with a crisis, there is a strong temptation to cut all non-essential costs: training, innovation, and long-term investments. This short-sighted cost-cutting leaves the organization vulnerable to future crises. A company that cuts its R&D budget just to survive for six months loses its ability to adapt in the future.
Organizational resilience requires “buffers” that may seem costly under normal circumstances but enable organizations to absorb shocks: contingency cash reserves, team redundancies, supplier diversification, and ongoing investment in skills. Sacrificing these buffers to gain an immediate 2% margin is a recipe for collapse when the next crisis hits.
New models of crisis management are emerging
In light of these limitations, new management practices are emerging. They share four common characteristics.
Proactive anticipation rather than reaction
Resilient organizations do not simply weather crises; they anticipate them. They develop capabilities in strategic monitoring (identifying early warning signs), foresight (developing future scenarios), and simulation (conducting stress tests on various shocks).
This foresight isn’t about predicting the future (which is impossible), but about being prepared. Having thought through the question, “What would we do if our main supplier disappeared?” allows us to react much more quickly when that day comes. It’s like fire drills: we hope we’ll never need them, but if the time comes, we know exactly what to do.
Decision-making agility rather than rigid planning
Agile organizations have replaced detailed multi-year plans with short iterative cycles: setting a general direction, moving forward in 2- to 4-week sprints, and continuously adjusting based on what they learn. This approach, which was originally developed in the software industry, is now being extended to the entire organization.
Decision-making agility is based on three principles: making quick decisions with incomplete information (60% is often enough), testing on a small scale before rolling out, and making rapid adjustments if things don’t work out. This is the opposite of the traditional French decision-making culture: spending a long time studying the issue, deciding only after a thorough analysis, and never going back on a decision.
Distributed autonomy rather than centralized control
In a rapidly evolving crisis, slow hierarchical decision-making processes can be fatal. Resilient organizations maximize autonomy: teams on the ground have the authority to make decisions without having to go through the entire chain of command.
This requires two things. First, a clear vision and set of principles to guide local decision-making (our purpose, our values, our priorities). Second, deep trust: accepting that teams will sometimes make mistakes, but that our collective momentum more than makes up for those errors.
Radical transparency rather than withholding information
Organizations that weather crises successfully practice transparency at every level. This includes transparency about the actual situation (even if it’s bad), about what is known and what is not known (intellectual honesty), and about decisions and the reasoning behind them (no black boxes).
This transparency fosters collective intelligence: by widely sharing information, we enable everyone to identify solutions, detect problems, and contribute to their resolution. This is the opposite of a culture of secrecy, which concentrates information at the top.
Resilience as a Core Strategy
Resilient organizations do not simply focus on efficiency during normal times. They incorporate resilience as a strategic criterion: diversification of revenue streams, organizational redundancies, financial buffers, and ongoing investment in skills.
This approach has an apparent cost under normal circumstances (less immediate efficiency) but proves infinitely more profitable in times of crisis. A resilient organization weathered shocks, adapts, and bounces back. A fragile organization collapses.
What this means for manager training
Training managers to lead in an era of constant crisis requires a radical rethinking of teaching methods.
Exposing students to real-world challenges from the start of their education
Students must experience crisis situations during their training: crisis simulations (cyberattacks, supplier bankruptcies, mass staff departures), business games with unpredictable shocks (unexpected events that disrupt the game), and projects with constraints that change as they progress.
These experiences help people acclimate to stress, develop the ability to make decisions under pressure, and instill a deep understanding that uncertainty is the norm. This is infinitely more effective than a theoretical course on “crisis management.”
Building Psychological Resilience
Managing in a state of constant crisis is psychologically taxing. It is essential to develop personal resilience: the ability to weather setbacks, maintain mental clarity under stress, and bounce back quickly.
This involves practical tools: stress management techniques, mindfulness practices, breathing exercises, and emotional debriefings. These aspects, long neglected in management training, are now taking center stage. An exhausted manager makes poor decisions.
Making Decisions in Conditions of Extreme Uncertainty
We need to train people to make decisions with only 50% of the information, to accept the risk of making mistakes, and to adjust quickly. This requires specific training methods: scenarios with deliberately incomplete information, decisions that must be made under time pressure, and the need to act without being able to analyze everything.
This practice fosters a tolerance for ambiguity and decision-making agility—qualities that the French education system (which emphasizes a single correct answer) has never cultivated. It is a necessary process of breaking free from conventional conditioning.
Improving transparency and crisis communication
Communication in a crisis is an art: telling the truth without panicking, acknowledging uncertainty without appearing incompetent, and maintaining trust despite the gravity of the situation. It is learned through intensive practice: crisis communication simulations, video recording and analysis, and brutally honest feedback.
Managers must also learn to communicate through multiple channels and on a regular basis (you can never communicate enough during a crisis), tailor their message to different audiences (employees, customers, shareholders), and maintain a reassuring presence without lying.
Fostering systems thinking and foresight
Train students to identify weak signals, develop future scenarios, and map systemic interdependencies. These skills in foresight and complexity analysis are developed through exposure to multifactorial cases, the practice of systems modeling, and the retrospective analysis of past crises.
Students must learn to think in terms of dynamic systems (feedback loops, delayed effects, tipping points) rather than in terms of linear causality. This is a profound cognitive shift.
The Land's Vision: Developing Managers Who Are Navigators
At The Land, we have made “crisis management” a central theme throughout our training program. We believe that in a world of constant crises, all managers must be “storm navigators.”
Our approach is based on five key areas.
1. Recurring stress tests
Each semester, our students participate in a major crisis simulation: a cyberattack, a health crisis, a market crash, or an ethical scandal. These 48-hour non-stop simulations put them under real pressure: they must make urgent decisions, deal with conflicting information, manage teams under stress, and handle crisis communication.
These experiences leave a deep impression. They create a physical memory of the crisis that will be triggered the day they actually experience it. They also reveal each person’s vulnerabilities—such as a tendency to panic, freeze, or over-control—which can then be addressed.
2. Developing resilience as a core competency
We dedicate specific time to developing psychological resilience: workshops on stress management, meditation sessions, emotional debriefings following intense simulations, and coaching on recovery.
This isn’t just some trendy “well-being” fad. It’s essential management training. A resilient manager makes better decisions, keeps their teams motivated, and stays the course. In an era of constant crisis, it’s a skill that sets you apart.
3. Training in Rapid Decision-Making Under Uncertainty
Our students are regularly put in situations where they must make quick decisions with limited information. These include projects where constraints change along the way, business games with unexpected twists, and case studies that must be solved within a time limit. This intensive training develops decision-making agility and tolerance for ambiguity.
We also value the right to make mistakes: it’s better to make a mistake early on and adjust than to wait until you’re certain and miss the window of opportunity. This culture of rapid experimentation is the opposite of the traditional French culture of perfect decision-making.
4. Transparency and communication as ongoing practices
Our students practice radical transparency in all their projects: sharing information widely, publicly acknowledging mistakes, and communicating regularly with all stakeholders. This practice helps them feel comfortable communicating even when it’s uncomfortable.
We also provide intensive training in crisis communication: mock interviews, presentations to hostile audiences, and crisis management on social media. These communication skills under pressure are now essential.
5. Local roots as a source of resilience
We believe that resilience is also built through a strong connection to the local community. Our students collaborate with the Breton ecosystem—including local small and medium-sized businesses, public sector organizations, and community groups—on projects focused on local resilience: food self-sufficiency, short supply chains, the energy transition, and community solidarity.
This connection to the local community helps them understand that resilience is not just organizational; it is also collective and community-based. In a global crisis, resilient communities fare better than fragmented ones.
Outlook: Toward Resilience Management
The coming decade will amplify current trends. Crises will continue to escalate and become increasingly interconnected. Three major shifts are taking shape.
The Rise of “Chief Resilience Officers”
By 2030, many organizations will have created “resilience manager” positions: anticipating crises, testing the robustness of systems, and fostering adaptability. These cross-functional roles, at the intersection of strategy, risk, and transformation, will become strategic.
Resilience as a performance metric
Beyond financial performance, organizations will be evaluated on their resilience: their ability to absorb shocks, transform themselves, and bounce back. This measure of resilience will influence market valuation, access to financing, and employer attractiveness.
The Integration of the Psychological Dimension
Management will no longer be able to ignore mental health. In the face of repeated crises, preventing burnout, building psychological resilience, and providing emotional support to teams will become core managerial skills.
Crisis management is no longer a specialty; it has become standard management practice. Programs that prepare students for this reality are training them for the real world. The others are training them for a world that no longer exists.
