Ok, hands up all those senior public affairs professionals out there that have a huge issues management manual unopened and collecting dust on some forgotten shelf in a disused office?

Yep you know who you are.

But in some ways that huge manual that predicts every conceivable scenario and specifies a text book-driven response to them is never really quite enough.

Because effective crisis management is never only about doing what it says in the text book. Trying to follow the manual step-by-step can only ever get you so far.

There is always a pragmatic “here and now” dimension to managing every crisis and problem

So if you've got some quality control issues in the factory that have come under scrutiny, the manual probably says to go public and explain how hard you are working to fix the problem.

But what if your bosses in head office overseas say you can't do that? And then how do you deal with the media questions about why you won't answer media questions?

Good crisis management often prescribes an open approach, where you are available to media to openly discuss the problem and what your organisation is doing about it.

Show concern and empathy says the manual, while giving a clear sense of actions and progress.

But there are innumerable conceivable scenarios that might prevent you from following the textbook.

• You might not be able to speak openly about the source of the problem because it might compromise a stakeholder or a business partner (a healthcare professional group, a Union, a professional association etc)
• You may not be able to provide talent for a TV interview because no-one in your organisation has been appropriately trained to confidently fill that role
• You might not be able to talk openly about an issue evolving in Australia because of the implications that issue has for your business in other markets
• You might not be able to talk openly about an issue because your boss in the UK or the USA has told you to shut up

You don't just need a manual. You need someone to help you implement effective crisis management in the real cooker pressure atmosphere of an event that threatens your brand – or perhaps even your whole company.

You'll need that advice because there will be things you feel you SHOULD be doing that for a whole host of practical, legal, corporate reasons you simply can't or are not allowed to do.

So next time you're feeling some reassurance from glancing at that manual collecting dust on your shelf or the public relations institute crisis management text book buried in your bottom draw, you might also want to consider who you'll be working with to manage that crisis on the awful day it breaks.

Because of this you can be sure: You're going to feel frustrated because you won't be able to do everything it says in the book.