AHEAD OF THE CURVE: Preparing for a technology disaster - Planning for any situation you're afraid to face makes responding to any other far easier.(Column)

Observing others react to (or fail to confront) the devastating 2005 hurricane season angers me. Lately, we've gotten the idea that an effort to study, discuss, and extract useful knowledge from a tragic event, even as it unfolds, is a necessary element of compassion. Learning all we can from horrific events, internalizing those lessons as individuals and organizations, and making those lessons change the way we behave, plan, and react makes us stronger. It's a prophylactic against individual and organizational paralysis in the face of extraordinary circumstances.

There is a practice in law enforcement referred to as "mindsetting." Mindsetting is discussing, studying, …