Lawfare Archive: Juliette Kayyem on Dealing with Disasters
Summary
Juliet Kayyem discusses her book *The Devil Never Sleeps*, arguing that disaster management must shift from prevention to consequence minimization. She explores the "paradox of preparedness" and the importance of "right of boom" strategies, using examples like the Y2K bug, the Challenger disaster, and the Suez Canal blockage. Kayyem emphasizes that accepting the inevitability of crises allows leaders to focus on stopping cascading losses and avoiding "stupid deaths" through better communication and fail-safe planning.
Topics discussed
Sponsors: Paylocity, Temptations, and Ground News
Introduction: Juliet Kayyam and her book on disaster management
The 'Boom' framework: Left vs. Right of Boom investments
Consequence minimization and avoiding 'stupid deaths'
The paradox of preparedness and the Y2K example
Communication failures: Challenger, Russia, and Ukraine
Sponsors: Bill, Lisa Mattress, Bombas, AT&T, and Granger
Fukushima: Planning for failure vs. perfect safety narratives
Super Bowl 47 and tabletop exercises for crisis response
Sponsors: Rinse and Liquid I.V.
Global supply chains and the Ever Given Suez Canal incident
Conclusion: Allocating resources for inevitable crises
Listen ad-free on Castria