This study illustrates how crisis management capability is developed in series ofrecurring exercises, rather than in one single exercise. Over one hundred table-topand role-playing exercises were performed and evaluated in a longitudinal cross-caseaction research study in 12 Swedish municipalities. By consciously adapting trainingformats, municipalities were lead through three learning phases: obtaining roleunderstanding (phase 1: knowing what to do), developing information managementskills (phase 2: knowing how to do it), and mastering self-reflection in regular time-outs (phase 3: knowing when and why to do something). This final learning out-come, being able to concurrently execute, evaluate, and reorganize an ongoing crisismanagement performance, may be the most valuable capability of a crisis manage-ment organization when crisis strikes.