Abstract

This study examines how organizations transform hindsight into preparedness following crisis. Drawing on Karl Weick’s concept of retrospective sensemaking, we analyze how professionals in U.S. National Science Foundation–funded research infrastructures reflected on actions they wished had been in place before the COVID-19 pandemic. Using 56 qualitative interviews conducted across three phases from 2020 to 2023, we identify a hierarchy of preparedness priorities. The findings show that post-crisis reflection produces differentiated logics of preparedness.

Date

2026

Authors

Mahedi Hasan, Oluwabusayo Okunloye, Kerk F Kee, Ewa Deelman

Journal

International Crisis and Risk Communication Association Reports

Volume

14

Issue

1

Publisher

ICRCA Reports