Crisis Control, Not Chaos Control

Crisis Control, Not Chaos Control: The Louvre Didn’t Get the Memo

By now, we’ve all heard of the heist at the Louvre in Paris in October 2025. As if the news of the heist, the priceless artifacts, and the fact that this all happened in broad daylight during lunch hour wasn’t enough, the investigation revealed the shocking detail that one of the key passwords for one of the world’s most prominent keepers of history and art was “louvre.”

It’s completely understandable that with so much of our lives being digitally dependent, there are a lot of passwords to remember, and the urge to simplify is real. But strong passwords, among other things, are aspects of businesses and organizations where corners should never be cut. 

The weak sauce password exposes two issues that many businesses and organizations fail to address early in their planning processes. Pieces of the puzzle that are quite simple yet, when the first is skipped or put off until later, can lead to the latter being needed. I’m referring to standard operating procedures (SOPs) and crisis management plans. 

Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)

When it comes to business, SOPs are as much of the foundation of your organization as your business plan. They are the instruction manual for every aspect of your business and every role on your team. Just as each organ knows what its job duties are to allow your body to function properly, the same can be said for SOPs and businesses, no matter how big or small. 

SOPs document procedures, set standards, and create a clear roadmap for how work gets done. This reduces risk, boosts efficiency, and ensures compliance. Without them? Chaos meets crisis, and this relationship breeds expensive, business-killer monsters that could've been avoided with a simple playbook.

(When they get together, it be like…)

The Louvre is a perfect example of what happens when SOPs are missing or ignored. Solid SOPs should cover employee transitions, both onboarding and off boarding, plus regular security maintenance like password updates and access reviews. Skip these basics, and you're essentially handing hackers the keys - or the paintings, as it were, in this circumstance!

We may never know how long the “louvre” password was in place before anyone noticed, but had SOPs been adhered to, it would have changed and changed often, considering the nature of the organization and how paramount security measures are for its survival. 

Crisis Management Plans

When organizations don’t have SOPs in place or don’t adhere to the ones they have, it often leads to a crisis. 

Crises can happen to any organization, whether you’re a one-woman/man operation or a multinational. The important thing is that you, as a leader, have done all you can to control your controllables (see our old friend, Sir SOP) and have a crisis management plan in place should things go left. 

Having a crisis management plan in place for your organization is one of the best ways to protect all you’ve built when emergencies arise. It’s the blueprint for a collective external response and internal game plan that goes a long way to protect your company’s reputation and stakeholders. Having it at the ready means you can respond swiftly because, as we’ve seen with recent debacles, including the viral Coldplay concert incident, being slow to respond can do irreparable harm. 

Without a crisis management plan, you're not just losing time—you're hemorrhaging money. A slow, fumbling response erodes public trust and drives customers away. Worse? You'll pay a premium to hire crisis communications specialists to dig you out of a hole that could've been avoided with a plan already in place.

As you look at ways to build your new business or fortify your existing one, let what went down at the Louvre be a lesson. While you may not be housing priceless pieces within your 4 walls, what goes on within them has come with sacrifice and hard work and is worth protecting. Being proactive about SOP's and crisis management planning is a critical step in your organizations daily operations. It also creates structure to successfully navigate through unforeseen bumps in the road.