Preparedness Theatre: Are You Actually Ready, or Just Performing Readiness?
Picture this: one of our trainers is running an emergency preparedness session with a corporate team. He asks the room, "Hands up if your office has emergency kits and supplies."
Every single hand shoots up. Confident nods all round. This organisation is prepared.
"Brilliant," he says. "And when did you last check them?"
Silence. Awkward glances. Someone mumbles something about "when we bought them."
So they decided to have a look. Out came the kits – dusty, neglected, shoved in storage cupboards where they'd been quietly aging. Every single kit had the same problem: all the food had expired. Not recently. Five years ago. This team had been walking around feeling prepared whilst their emergency supplies had been quietly turning into archaeological artefacts.
Here's the uncomfortable truth: buying the kits felt good. It felt responsible. It ticked the compliance box. And then everyone forgot about them entirely. They weren't actually prepared – they were just looking prepared.
The expensive illusion
This happens in organisations everywhere. We purchase the emergency kits, update the business continuity plan, and feel like we've solved the problem. The buying bit tricks us into thinking we're done.
But preparedness isn't a product you purchase – it's a practice you maintain.
Think about what else might be lurking in those neglected kits. Batteries that have corroded and leaked. Water bottles that have degraded. Torches that no longer work. First aid supplies past their use-by date. That emergency radio you've never actually tested.
The cruel bit? You won't discover any of this during a quiet Tuesday when you've got time to sort it out. You'll discover it during an actual emergency, when your team is stressed and you desperately need your supplies to work. That's when you'll find out your "preparation" was just expensive clutter taking up space in your storage room.
The unglamorous reality
Real preparedness is also … maintenance. But here's the good news: it takes about five minutes, twice a year.
Assign someone to own this task. Set a calendar reminder – link it to daylight savings, financial year changeovers, or quarterly reviews. Then run through a quick check:
Food and water – check the dates, replace what's expired
Batteries – test them, replace if dodgy, check for corrosion
Equipment – does the torch actually work? Is the radio functional?
First aid supplies – nothing expired or deteriorated?
Emergency plans and contact lists – still current and accurate?
That's it. Five minutes of boring admin, twice a year, and you're actually prepared instead of just pretending to be.
The bottom line
Just because you think you're prepared doesn't mean you can get complacent. Emergency kits aren't something you can tick off and forget – they need regular care to do the job when you need them.
So here's your action item: assign someone this week to check your workplace emergency supplies. If they discover a layer of dust and food that expired during the previous government, you're not alone, you're just human. The difference is, now you know better.
And next time someone asks if your organisation is prepared? You can actually mean it.
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