To date the relationship between crises,organizational crisis management, and learninghas been understudied. In an effort tobroaden theoretical understandings of therelation between crisis and learning, thisarticle analyses the crisis management andlearning processes of two public organizationsduring a sequence of two failures. Aframework of rigidity versus flexibility inresponse is utilized in the analysis. Thefindings are discussed in relation to theirimplications for the nexus between crisis andlearning. The study concludes by raising fourhypotheses for further research.