Decision Making Under Pressure
A Crisis Management Sourcebook for Practitioners
1st Edition
Will be published approx. on 17. February 2026
Book
Hardback
200 pages
978-1-032-93467-9 (ISBN)
Description
In today's world, the need for effective crisis management extends far beyond traditional emergency response personnel. With an increasing number of people facing high-stakes decisions under pressure, the demand for agile and resilient problem-solvers is higher than ever. The aging demographic in emergency services and the high turnover due to burnout make the challenge difficult to build expertise through experience alone. This book addresses these issues, providing a knowledge base to help individuals and teams operate effectively in volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous environments.
This comprehensive guide covers a range of topics essential for navigating and leading in crises. It offers insights into the trends contributing to today's turbulent landscape and provides strategies for resilient and agile problem-solving. Readers will learn how to lead teams in uncertain conditions, mobilize and manage resources effectively, and enhance coordination among multiple organizations.. By using a framework to explore the challenges for the self; the social context and the problem-solving situation, the authors present a series of practical tools to help practitioners navigate through volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity to guide action. It will equip any reader with the skill set to confidently tackle incidents, disasters and crises in whatever setting they find themselves in.
Decision Making Under Pressure: A Crisis Management Sourcebook for Practitioners is an ideal read for practitioners, educators, scholars, and students looking to enhance their decision-making and leadership skills in high-pressure situations, especially those in occupational health and safety, risk management and organizational resilience, ergonomics and human factors, emergency management, crisis leadership and professional development.
This comprehensive guide covers a range of topics essential for navigating and leading in crises. It offers insights into the trends contributing to today's turbulent landscape and provides strategies for resilient and agile problem-solving. Readers will learn how to lead teams in uncertain conditions, mobilize and manage resources effectively, and enhance coordination among multiple organizations.. By using a framework to explore the challenges for the self; the social context and the problem-solving situation, the authors present a series of practical tools to help practitioners navigate through volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity to guide action. It will equip any reader with the skill set to confidently tackle incidents, disasters and crises in whatever setting they find themselves in.
Decision Making Under Pressure: A Crisis Management Sourcebook for Practitioners is an ideal read for practitioners, educators, scholars, and students looking to enhance their decision-making and leadership skills in high-pressure situations, especially those in occupational health and safety, risk management and organizational resilience, ergonomics and human factors, emergency management, crisis leadership and professional development.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Professional Reference
Illustrations
19 s/w Tabellen, 16 s/w Zeichnungen, 16 s/w Abbildungen
19 Tables, black and white; 16 Line drawings, black and white; 16 Illustrations, black and white
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 16 mm
Weight
487 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-032-93467-9 (9781032934679)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Christine Owen | David Phillip Parsons
Decision Making Under Pressure
A Crisis Management Sourcebook for Practitioners
E-Book
02/2026
1st Edition
CRC Press
€69.99
Available for download
Christine Owen | David Phillip Parsons
Decision Making Under Pressure
A Crisis Management Sourcebook for Practitioners
Book
approx. 02/2026
1st Edition
CRC Press
€77.10
Not yet published
Christine Owen | David Phillip Parsons
Decision Making Under Pressure
A Crisis Management Sourcebook for Practitioners
E-Book
02/2026
1st Edition
CRC Press
€69.99
Available for download
Persons
Dr Christine Owen
Christine Owen's career history spans engagement in academia and industry to help people and organisations engaged in safety critical work to inquire into, learn from and, if needed, change their work practices. Christine has worked with safety critical organisations for over 35 years, including the aviation field, emergency medicine, the fire and emergency services industry and public safety.
Christine researches and facilitates professional development in the areas of human factors and organisational culture; decision making under pressure; debriefing; and leadership and adversity, as well as coaching and mentoring. She has been engaged by industry in several practitioner reviews and evaluations. Christine is passionate about supporting organisations to utilise research outcomes and establish evidence-informed practice. She has over 100 publications in a variety of domains.
David Parsons (ESM)
David has a passion for creating world class programs in the organisational resilience areas of risk, crisis decision making, emergency and business continuity management. He has served for more than 40 years in a variety of emergency management roles. David is also a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Emergency Services, the Business Continuity Institute, and the Emergency Management Academy of New York, a member of the International Association of Emergency Managers, and an Assessor with the Emergency Management Accreditation Program.
David holds a Masters of Emergency Management and degrees in Social Science and Education. David has completed an Emergency Management Fellowship with the Emergency Management Academy in New York, the Leadership in Crises Program with the Harvard Kennedy Business School and the Lessons Leaned Staff Officer Course with NATO. In 2023 he was awarded an Emergency Services Medal in the Kings Birthday Honours list.
Christine Owen's career history spans engagement in academia and industry to help people and organisations engaged in safety critical work to inquire into, learn from and, if needed, change their work practices. Christine has worked with safety critical organisations for over 35 years, including the aviation field, emergency medicine, the fire and emergency services industry and public safety.
Christine researches and facilitates professional development in the areas of human factors and organisational culture; decision making under pressure; debriefing; and leadership and adversity, as well as coaching and mentoring. She has been engaged by industry in several practitioner reviews and evaluations. Christine is passionate about supporting organisations to utilise research outcomes and establish evidence-informed practice. She has over 100 publications in a variety of domains.
David Parsons (ESM)
David has a passion for creating world class programs in the organisational resilience areas of risk, crisis decision making, emergency and business continuity management. He has served for more than 40 years in a variety of emergency management roles. David is also a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Emergency Services, the Business Continuity Institute, and the Emergency Management Academy of New York, a member of the International Association of Emergency Managers, and an Assessor with the Emergency Management Accreditation Program.
David holds a Masters of Emergency Management and degrees in Social Science and Education. David has completed an Emergency Management Fellowship with the Emergency Management Academy in New York, the Leadership in Crises Program with the Harvard Kennedy Business School and the Lessons Leaned Staff Officer Course with NATO. In 2023 he was awarded an Emergency Services Medal in the Kings Birthday Honours list.
Content
Part 1: The High Consequence Context. 1. The Context: Making Decisions in Deep Uncertainty. 2. Planning for Decision Making in Dynamic Contexts. Part 2: You the Decision Maker. 3. The Neuroscience of Decision Making. 4. Leading Under Pressure. Part 3: Teams, Groups and Collectives. 5. Leading Teams Under Pressure. 6. Multi Stakeholder Coordination and Influence. 7. Communities and Collectives. Part 4: Iterative Learning for Conscious Inquiry and Improvement. 8. Understanding Why Plans Fail. 9. Learning From Experience and Building Capability. 10. Conclusion.