Re-Writing the Crisis Playbook Through the Power of the 'Deliberate Pause'

The old crisis communications playbook, which may have prized being first and loudest, needs a refresh. In an environment now defined by the speed of AI, moving fast without a clear strategy creates more risk than it mitigates. Instead, a more disciplined approach is taking hold, rooted in the idea that the most effective crisis response begins with a deliberate pause.

Vishakha Mathur, Vice President and Crisis Strategist at strategic comms firm SKDK, is helping to map this new terrain. Her background in journalism and experience advising high profile institutions, including higher education institutions and philanthropic organizations, informs a doctrine for shaping public affairs and navigating challenges when the stakes are high.

"As soon as you enter a crisis, everybody wants to 'go, go, go'. They want the crisis resolved. I think it's important to take a pause and think about the strategy," says Mathur. To respond strategically rather than reactively, she says to consider your stakeholders. "What is it that you can present to them that retains their confidence? You have to be thoughtful yet fast."

As an example, Mathur shares a presentation she gave to Boston University students about two companies that faced similar technology outages. One organization's path led to long-term reputational damage, while the other led to a crisis so well-contained it's been largely forgotten. "I took the example of Delta Air Lines and how they handled the CrowdStrike outage poorly, and on the other side, how Slack handled one of their outages really well," she says.

• Lost in transmission: Delta’s response became a textbook example of how a lack of calibrated urgency can create long-term reputational damage. The company's initial communications were slow and unclear, leading to widespread customer frustration. "Their website notification said that you could find information on the app, which is not something that everybody is using," Mathur explains. "You should be thinking about who your audience is, what they want to know, and where they are going to read the message." The company struggled to regain its footing and faced fallout that included negative press, litigation, and investigations.

• The crisis that wasn't: Slack, on the other hand, provides a strong model for building stakeholder confidence with their transparent, effective communication. Faced with a similar technology breakdown, the company's response was so swift and clear that it barely registered as a major event. "When I presented it to the class, they were like, ‘What crisis are you talking about?’" Mathus recalls. "I think that's the best crisis, right? A crisis that nobody remembers."

Mathur says executing a response like Slack's requires deliberate operational design. It calls for building a team capable of embodying the thoughtful-yet-fast ethos, a system that can be a key differentiator in a modern remote work environment. Building that kind of team starts with a leader who provides clear direction on the mission, then empowers their team with the autonomy and time to execute it.

• Alignment, autonomy, and optimization: "As a leader, you want to make sure that the strategy is in place and everybody understands what that strategy is. Set clear instructions for what needs to be done, and then give them the time and space to actually do the work." Time enables the deliberate pause we discussed earlier. "One of the critical parts of any crisis strategy is a constant feedback loop. Being nimble is critical. It means you execute one part of the strategy, see how it went, and then immediately adjust the next part based on that feedback." Social media is one great avenue for near-instant feedback. Internal stakeholders are another.

For communications professionals looking to hone their crisis-response skills, Mathur recommends reading as much as possible about your field and comms strategy. "I cannot emphasize this enough," she says. "Read the news, read case studies, read trade publications. Being informed of how these things have been handled in the past can lend itself to giving you confidence that you can do it too."