Crisis Management

My former client Mary posted a great item about crisis management in the wake of the BP oil spill. Mary has the perspective of having been thru a severe crisis with a company, and discusses of the importance of how things are handled, as it relates to rebuilding long term trust.

I always enjoyed the truth behind the lyric from the "Wear Sunscreen" video. "..Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday."

While you can prepare for worst case scenarios, a crisis does tend to blindside you from nowhere. From the most personal to global scale, a crisis tends to divide things into 'before' and 'after.' Typically there is a lot of discussion and analysis around why did this happen, who's to blame or what could we have been changed if we turned back time. If its a domestic or global crisis there will be cover stories on "What went wrong?" If its personal, that same examination is usually applied to ourselves and others. It's often a very confusing, scary and overwhelming time, with no easy answers.

Looking backwards is important for perspective, and learning from any mistakes that could have been avoided. Change only happens though when you eventually look forward, trust (often without many tangible facts) that things will get better, and then put one foot in front of the other.