When everyone’s panicking, the person who actually reads the instructions wins.

Panic makes people act quickly and skip the part where somebody finds out what to do. Meanwhile the answer is frequently printed on the box, in the manual, in the email everybody deleted, in the rules nobody opened. Reading feels too slow while others are moving, and it is still faster than three wrong attempts. Calm plus information beats speed nearly every time.

Next time something goes wrong in a group, volunteer to be the one who reads. Say you will check and come back in two minutes, then find the relevant line. People remember who was useful in those moments.