Crises are never easy. However, whether you get a normal case of the pre-interview jitters or are overwhelmed by a serious sense of dread depends almost entirely on how confident you are that you have a strong case.
Crisis Prevention is Preferred to Crisis Management Every Time
The best crisis is one that is avoided in the first place. Those organizations that are able to operate above reproach, that are able to conduct vulnerability audits and address issues BEFORE they arise, that can learn from the incidents that occur to others – those are the ones who stand the best chance of avoiding a crisis.
These are not all easy things to do! Opportunities arise every day where decisions must be made that could threaten an organization’s good name. Budgets are never as large as you’d like. So when something comes up where what you know should be done costs a whole lot more than the “quick fix”, it isn’t easy to make the right decision.
Time is another scarce resource. Perhaps the RIGHT way to do something (be it more hands-on care of a patient or filling out more complete paperwork) will take a lot more time. So you may opt to do the bare minimum.
You might get away with the lower cost or less time consuming option 99% of the time. But, at some point, that 1% is liable to catch up with you. Something bad happens. In the glare of the media spotlight it comes out that the option you chose was responsible for the problem. In that oh-so-perfect-20/20-hindsight often used by reporters and the public, any fool could see that this was not what should have been done.
Passing the ”Mama Test”
When you are facing one of these tough decisions, things can come into perspective if you ask yourself, “What would Mama say if she heard what I’m planning to do?” Some of us were blessed with one or two parents who instilled in us a deep sense of moral right and wrong. Doing something wrong (especially if we got caught at it!) was bad enough. Dealing with the consequences from school officials or other authority figures was difficult. However, it paled in comparison with having to go home and try to explain why you had done it. If you couldn’t explain your reasoning well enough
to convince your parents, you failed the “mama test.”
Many a problem could have been avoided by considering, ahead of time, whether or not you’d pass the “mama test” when you were making this decision.
Picturing Yourself on the Front Page of the Newspaper
If you were unfortunate enough to always pull the wool over your parents’ eyes, if they made excuses for you and let you get away without paying the consequences for your ill-considered actions, then you may need an even more frightening specter to make you weigh your decisions carefully. Imagine that the consequences of your cost-cutting or time-saving decision land you in the midst of a major incident where you are caught squarely in the media spotlight.
Compare these two possible press statements:
• from an uncertain, defensive spokesperson, the ineffective and even pathetic, “We are sorry that this incident happened and will investigate its cause,” and
• from a spokesperson speaking with sincerity and conviction, “We are shocked (saddened/deeply disturbed) by this incident. Prior to this happening, we were confident that we had planned thoroughly, developed excellent procedures, and adequately prepared our entire staff so that such a thing could not happen. Obviously we will investigate this matter completely until we determine what went wrong. We will then take steps to improve our operations in order to minimize the chance that such a thing could happen again.”
If you make all of your decisions with the idea that you might one day have to explain them to your “mama” or to a critical newspaper or television reporter, it will make the decisions a whole lot easier. It may also help you avoid a messy crisis down the line!
Ms. Hoffman is a nationally recognized crisis communications consultant, media trainer, speaker and author. Her book, "Keeping Cool on the Hot Seat: Dealing Effectively with the Media in Times of Crisis" is used by numerous colleges as a text and is a reference for managers in various industries.
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