I was thinking about empathy last week when I had sent out a mass 'mail merge' business development email to marketing contacts inside companies, and less than two days later was very surprised to have gotten an email from the chairman of a large multinational oil company, whose colleague had forwarded him my note. Marketing is directly influenced by what's happening in the marketplace, and the 'court of public opinion' can prioritize "Corporate social responsibility" from an after-thought to an overnight corporate emphasis. I had gotten some insights on the company from a friend close to the oil business and he said, "They're all being very cautious right now."
Ah, of course they are. Accidents can happen to anyone.
I am side-stepping heated debates about offshore drilling, our oil addiction and having an American based energy solution, how effective or poorly things are being handled from a crisis communications standpoint, government response, if enough is being done to protect gulf businesses, how to save and protect species of marine life who cannot help themselves, if proper precautionary measures were put in place in advance or as this article from Bloomberg suggested, if too much is being done -- "...Whatever you do, don’t waste a lot of money on an army of advertising agencies and public-relations consultants trying to restore your image. It’s not going to work, so there is no point even trying..."
Not commenting on any of this, but just suggesting that I seriously doubt BP intended to create this explosion. And, before this happened, would not imagine that a large percentage of people had 'ocean protection' top of mind. When Fabien Cousteau first sat down to talk about ocean restoration and protection, several months before this oil spill, I was hopeful for his vision around "Plant A Fish", though also wondered if many people would care about what isn't in their own backyard.
I remember what the minister at Grace Church said earlier this year right after the Haiti earthquake:
"...The focus of the service was a commemoration for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Reverend opened the sermon saying he's been asked several times 'How does God let something like this happen to Haiti?' He said (in addition to Pat Robertson's televised statements of cruelty being only matched by his ignorance) that before the earthquake, he's never been asked about Haiti, though of course it's a nation wrought with poverty and very deep social and humanitarian issues. The sermon became a message of how do WE let this happen, and our role in making society better for all....
Horrifying accidents, natural disasters and crimes of humanity do trigger wake up calls when we're not paying attention, highlight some cracks in the foundation, and hopefully prompt change to better ensure that things like this don't happen again. I was very interested in this story featuring Kevin Costner last week, who, 15 years ago, began developing oil/water separator technology after Exxon Valdez oil spill. An unlikely hero, but a hero nontheless.
It's human nature to want to blame someone, to have heroes and villains, to see things as black or white, right or wrong. It's not easy or comfortable when we don't have clearly defined 'bad guys' like Darth Vader.
Who became that way, after a series of poor decisions, motivations of power, greed, ego and other trappings, perhaps ignoring that small voice inside. It's a muddled gray area when the villain first began as one of us, as Luke Skywalker's father, after all...
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