Lessons From Recent Ongoing Crisis Management & Catastrophe Management Mistakes

1. Failure to Put the CEO in Charge of the response—visibly and operationally—or, in the alternative, failure to put a competent CEO in charge of the response.
2. Information Delayed Is Information Withheld: Get those dark sites ready and dashboards operating. Disclose, explain, and apologize.
3. Litigation Denial: Catastrophes cause litigation tsunamis. Put attorneys who have settled catastrophic cases in charge immediately. They’ll be opposed by a global horde of extremely experienced and collaborating plaintiff’s attorneys.
4. Save the Boss a Nickel: Throw a net over the finance department and watch out for the well-meaning penny pinchers as they try to save the boss a nickel or a dime. These people will cost the boss his or her job, and an extra billion dollars.
5. Create More Victims: Job #1 is to resolve the victim issues now, and for the next generation or more.

Biggest Current Mistakes:

1. BP trying to preserve the well rather than stop the oil flow.
2. Johnson & Johnson thinking it can still hide behind the urban legends of its 1982 Tylenol performance.
3. Toyota continuing to underestimate the media-driven American Congressional paranoia about dangerous cars.

James E. Lukaszewski, ABC, Fellow IABC; APR, Fellow PRSA, BEPS Emeritus

If you have questions, or would like to dive more deeply into the subject of this blog, you can reach me 24/7 at jel@e911.com; 203-948-7029 (voicemail, email, text). I look forward, as a friend and colleague, to helping you achieve the objectives you’ve set for yourself for having a happier, more influential, successful and meaningful career.

Signup for my newsletter

Follow me on Twitter

Connect with me on LinkedIn

Find me on Amazon