Expert: Leadership Beats PR in a Crisis

May 14, 2007 (Computerworld) When corporate executives are faced with a crisis  such as a product recall or executive scandal  the typical knee-jerk reaction is to send up the white flag. But that strategy doesnt stand up well when managers have to fend off bloodthirsty competitors or a panic-stricken public, according to Eric Dezenhall, a crisis management expert and co-author of a new book, Damage Control: Why Everything You Know About Crisis Management Is Wrong (Portfolio, 2007). In an interview with Computerworld, Dezenhall talked about how IT managers and corporate executives should handle such situations.

How can a bank best address the public turmoil that comes when computers are hacked and financial data on thousands of customers is exposed?

First thing, remember [that] the name of the game is damage control, not damage disappearance. You dont reverse them; you lessen their impact. We have had situations like that, and you have to quantify the problem. It has to be made clear quickly what the extent of the damage is. People want to know, Am I going to be OK? and What are you doing about it? Those are the twin goals with something like that. Some organizations go on to explain process, and that is absolutely worthless to the public.



Should this be handled any differently if, say, a hacker gained access to the patient records of a health care organization? Ithink the same principle applies. Financial information and health information are about as personal as it gets. Youre dealing with people who are so furious that theyre not interested in being dealt with logically. They want to be reassured that the situation is under control and wont happen again. Explaining how something got breached is like the plumber explaining how the sink was clogged when you just want it to work.

One situation Im finding thats increasingly causing crises in IT is how many things are retained in e-mail. This is epidemic. The only people who understand not to save [some] kinds of e-mails are people who are either too old that they dont use e-mail or others who have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in litigation because of this.



How can companies better handle high-profile disruptions from dysfunctional ERP systems, such as those at Hershey Foods, Whirlpool and Nike? We did have one situation in that category, and the answer is kind of corny. A lot of it came down to charm offensive. A lot of times when youre dealing with operational infrastructure problems, the remedy is interpersonal  a real offensive with offended parties, showing them whats been done to correct the problem and conveying a personal commitment to making sure it doesnt happen again. You mobilize your team on a personal basis to assuage offended parties.



What are some organizations that have handled damage control well, and what makes them stand out? I think a lot of it comes down to very strong leadership. Given the choice between a great crisis management plan and great leadership, always go with great leadership. I think the JetBlue example was very good.



What did JetBlue CEO David Neeleman do right? He did something tangible. He didnt just apologize [for flight cancellations]; there was some sort of reimbursement program. They formed a passenger bill of rights. It was a very specific portfolio of actions. Next, he wasnt just visible  he was strong. What we want to see in a leader is someone who is competent in a situation. I dont think a groveling CEO is necessarily what you want to see. When the whole spying scandal came up at HP, it wasnt that [CEO] Mark Hurd was just apologetic; he was strong. He said, This is a very strong company; were going to pull out of it, and they did just that.



What are some other overlooked or underserved aspects of crisis management? Conventional crisis management tends to view crises as organic, and what we believe is that most conflicts are communications issues. The way that you deal with the problem is different than the way youd deal with the problem with a motivated party thats trying to exploit your weakness. People need to think about the nature of adversarial behavior more than they do.