# Chapter 9 — Emergency Planning

## The COVID-19 origin story

Felix tells the story of throwing open the consultancy's doors *pro bono* in March 2020. The team of experienced consultants — all of whom had weathered the dot-com bust, 9/11 and the 2008 banking crisis — made themselves available free of charge to founders who had no idea what to do.

Two unexpected effects followed. First, industry heavyweights from around the world volunteered to help; the team's reach expanded internationally. Second, working with founders during the crisis showed the team that **the 2Y3X process lends itself extraordinarily well to an emergency**.

## The QuickMap

The QuickMap is a smaller version of the Strategy Map.

- Where the Strategy Map plans **three years**, the QuickMap plans **three months**.
- Where the Strategy Map produces a 2Y3X Roadmap for Year 1, the QuickMap produces a single quarter's plan straight away.
- Where the Strategy Map starts with a unifying three-year goal, the QuickMap starts at the end of the next three months and works backwards.

The bet during COVID-19 was pragmatic: if the economy rebooted in less than three months, most businesses would survive; longer than three months would be damaging and possibly transformative, and a business that had spent the time planning would be ready when doors reopened.

> "*Even if the crisis were to last nine months, the business would be prepared for the rebound — even if the rebound were just a dead cat bounce.*"

QuickMap® is a registered trade mark of 2Y3X Ltd.

## QuickMap for turnarounds

The chapter also tells the story of Felix's first turnaround client after he stepped down as CEO of The Conversation Group: a dozen staff, losing **£70,000 a month**, who adopted the programme and within two years had more than doubled revenue and reached **17% net profit**. That experience proved the programme worked for turnarounds, not just for scaling — and the QuickMap formalises a fast version of that intervention.

## When to use a QuickMap instead of a Strategy Map

- **Major external shock** — pandemic, war, regulatory change, sudden recession.
- **Critical client loss** — a customer who represented 30%+ of revenue walks.
- **Cash crisis** — fewer than 3 months of runway.
- **Founder change** — sudden departure of a co-founder or senior leader.
- **Pre-sale tidy-up** — the [Earnout Maximiser](https://2y3x.com/agents/method/earnout-maximiser/) period before a sale.

## See also

- [The QuickMap (method)](https://2y3x.com/agents/method/quickmap/)
- [QuickMap as a product (2y3x.com)](https://2y3x.com/agents/products/quickmap/)