b'Management11. The nation faces inequitiesand the pandemicThe principal takeaway from all of these principles: Even helped to make the effects of inequity morein a nation consumed with politics, the other two facets of transparent. The pandemic revealed that withoutgovernmentpolicy and managementmake ambitious addressing social and economic inequities, disasters willefforts succeed or fail, and profoundly shape the politics that harm huge segments of the population disproportionately surround crises. Applying most of these principles is not easy. and that, in turn, can unravel the fabric of society.Maintaining them as a crisis ebbs away may be even harder. Heightened awareness may well lead to solutions at allIn fact, once a crisis becomes a memory, it is often easy levels of government, including sharing more resources withto forget the painful journey, to ignore the steps needed to disenfranchised neighborhoods, hiring chief equity officersprevent a recurrence, and to yearn for a return to a past that, to keep issues of inequality in the forefront, ensuring thatalmost always, has vanished forever.government data does not perpetuate racial bias, and using the power of public discourse soapbox to keep peopleHope for applying the dozen principles spelled out in this from falling back into a state of ignorance. These actionspaper relies on a fragile commoditya long memory about are important far beyond COVID and can help to addressthe consequences of the past and a firm resolve to do better problems of inequity during disasters and for obvious moralin the future. This paper sets forth details for building a new and ethical reasons.kind of national roof to protect from future unanticipated rainstorms. The key is to continue to keep the roof in good 12. Accountability is often the first casualty in arepair, even when the rain stops and the roof ceases leaking. crisiseven when governments know the results ofThat is the government that Americans deserve. their efforts. Holding institutions and individuals accountable helps ensure responsible actions. This requires knowing exactly how to define and measure success. Accountability is a bedrock problem in dealing with crises, and their growing complexity makes that problem even worse. But solutions include coming to a consensus aboutManaging The Next Crisis: Twelve Principles Forthe problem and developing measurements of performanceDealing With Viral Uncertainty that determine success or failure without placing broadscale blame on any individual player involved. Gotcha is not aby Katherine Barrett, Richard Greene, and Donald F. Kettl helpful word to use in holding individuals and institutions accountable in a complex world.ConclusionWhat would have happened if the nations leaders had beendownload PDFfollowing all twelve of the preceding principles when the first cases of COVID were identified in China? No matter how closely they pursued the steps recommended in this report, there still would have been an enormous number ofbusinessofgovernment@us.ibm.comcases and deaths in the United States. However, the numbers would most likely have been substantially smaller than what the nation experienced. The country would have also likely emerged from the COVID crisis with far more trust in governments institutions. Crises will come and go, regardless(202) 551-9342of the lessons learned (or ignored). Good governance will not stop hurricanes, terrorists, floods, wildfires, heat waves, or cyberattacks from disturbing societys smooth functioning.Improvements in the way government manages crises, however, can soften their impact in demonstrable ways, lessening their impact and abbreviating recovery. 2022 IBM Center for The Business of Government 91'