A data given by a public crisis expert may surprise many people: the emergency escape and safe escape signs set up in public places such as commercial buildings and underground spaces in buildings, when a crisis occurs, their role and expected Very different.
If we calmly judge and deduct this conclusion, people will be extremely nervous when fires, floods, etc. happen, and they will indeed forget to pay attention to the escape signs. In the absence of a commander, the “herd mentality” must dominate them, even if this collective action is extremely wrong.
Therefore, it is very important to keep practicing. The drill is to let the public know that after a crisis occurs, the escape route and method should be selected in a predetermined way, rather than running with everyone. This is a fact that has been proven by interdisciplinary disciplines such as psychology and organizational behavior. Violating science will inevitably bring painful costs.
I remember that one year when I participated in training in Beijing, Wu Heping, the former spokesperson of the Ministry of Public Security, said that the original words are irreversible, and the general idea is: no matter what kind of public crisis, whether the crisis can be overcome in the end depends on the inner faith. (confidence). This is a very insightful sentence.
Reading British financial history these days, I saw a very interesting story. In 1672, the combined forces of Britain, France, and Rome launched a war and invaded the Netherlands. Five of the seven union provinces had fallen. The Dutch people were panicked and everyone wanted to keep their wealth. They rushed to the bank, wanting to convert the bills into gold. As a result, the gate of the bank in the capital Amsterdam was crowded with people, and the flames of the riot had begun to burn.
At this critical moment, the 22-year-old Dutch ruler William III did a very beautiful thing. He appeared in a turbulent run on the crowd, and in front of everyone at the Bank of Amsterdam, he ordered the soldiers to open the vault door and promised to cash the gold for them.
When the door of the vault was opened, people were stunned: the vault was full of yellow gold, and the seal on it was still decades ago… Since the country is so rich, there is no need to worry that the Netherlands will not be able to defeat the invaders.
This huge financial crisis was successfully resolved by William III alone. However, modern finance experts believe that this must be a trick of William III. At that time, the Bank of Amsterdam could not have so much gold reserves, nor could it have gold that was sealed decades ago.
The truth has sunk into deep history, but the key is that William III used his own confidence to bring confidence to the people. In the face of a crisis, it is important to build confidence.
There is kindness and reason in human nature, but there is also greed and fear. When a crisis comes, bad emotions spread like a virus, and the energy keeps gathering, enough to destroy everything. Don’t those who run on know that a collective run will make the situation worse, and in the end it will only make them lose their money? Just like escaping, the correct method of escaping according to the signs is often not adopted in critical moments. “Following the crowd” is the best choice, and the stampede incident occurs from this.
Because all public crises are not because of rationality, but because of fear, the final trigger must be detonated by public emotions, especially financial crises. Throughout all the financial crises in economic history, whether it was the Bank of England run during the Anglo-French War at the end of the 18th century or the financial tsunami in 2008, the public sentiment continued to evolve, which aggravated the consequences of the disaster.
The return of public confidence is not so easy. Only faith can point to the correct “escape” channel. The person who can provide “guidance” must not only be able to see through people’s hearts and know the crux of the problem, but also have a strong reputation. For example, when a fire broke out, he shouted to the crowd filled with fireworks: “I am a retired firefighter, please follow me!”
