I had a boss who was a panic junkie (I called him a crisis generating unit at the time) who used to let stuff go until it became a crisis and then leap in to save the world.

And repeat.

Just as you described.

After working with him for a while I started locking down every opportunity for him to create a crisis. I'd ambush him to pull vital info out of him. I brought in procedures to give structure. I held meetings where I made it clear who was responsible for what so he couldn't let things slide.

But no matter what, he always found another way to create a crisis. Eventually he got so desperate that he fired someone just so something would happen.

Any advice about how to deal with shutting down or alleviating the effects of a panic junkie?