Chapter 4. Principles of Containment

By definition, errors, surprises, and the unexpected are difficult to anticipate. As you saw in Chapter Three, HROs deal with this difficulty by trying to improve their ability to anticipate. They invest resources in such activities as developing contingency plans, imagining a greater range of worst-case scenarios, and detecting hazards early in their development. The intention in all of these efforts is to prevent small unexpected outcomes from worsening.

But HROs are mindful of the limitations of foresight and anticipation. Sometimes precautions fail, and unexpected events begin to escalate into a crisis. Then what? HROs of all kinds seem to be guided by at least two principles—commitment to building resilience ...

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