The call comes Friday before the holiday. Your in-house IT lead tells you there has been a cyber-attack on the company. You know speed matters. "When are we convening?" you ask. "Fifteen minutes—I'm sending an invite. The core team is aware."

You join the call, listen to the debrief from the security team and to IT's initial impact assessment. The team runs through its list of steps: detect, analyze, contain, eradicate, recover, improve. You discuss which pre-identified advisors to call. You discuss privilege and preservation. You agree on the level of notice to the extended response team (executives, sales, PR, finance, HR, consultants). You pull out your insurance policy. You pull out your legal department response checklist (e.g., notify breach and privacy counsel, notify your insurer). The team confirms the actions to be taken immediately. You set a time to reconvene.

Smooth sailing? More like a well-outfitted boat in stormy waters. What process led to that boat with that crew who knew what to do in what order? Thought, planning, practice—all of which requires determination and lead time.