The 12 Laws for Effective Emergency Management

This article is based on an interview with Michael Stone, President of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies Alumni Association, and a distinguished humanitarian specialist. He has spent decades managing complex emergency responses for refugees and internally displaced persons.- Andrew Boyarsky, MSM, PMP, CBCP, cABCF

Emergency management is often framed as a technical discipline, focusing on organizational structures, plans, frameworks, SOPs, and doctrine. But anyone who has worked in real crises knows that response effectiveness is shaped far more by human behavior, perception, history, and judgment than by binders on shelves. The following twelve laws for effective emergency management, articulated by Michael Stone and grounded in decades of international humanitarian experience, cut through theory and get to the realities that practitioners often confront in the field.

The following “laws” are not just aspirational principles. They are hard-earned observations. Ignore them, and response efforts may become inefficient, tone-deaf, or actively harmful. Apply them, and even imperfect programs can produce effective and meaningful outcomes.

1. The Law of Relations: Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood