Category Archives: Crisis Prevention

Don’t take that seat at the top table for granted

Posted on May 1, 2024 by managingoutcomes

Corporate communicators have been arguing forever about how they need a “seat at the table”. And that’s never more important than in a crisis. But it should be something you earn, not something you get assigned. One analysis of boards … Continue reading →

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Crisis lessons from the Adidas-Kanye debacle

Posted on January 24, 2024 by managingoutcomes

New revelations – variously described as shocking, jaw-dropping and bombshell – brutally expose how a company ignored long-standing warning signs in pursuit of profit, leading to a costly financial and reputational crisis. Although it’s more than 12 months since Adidas parted … Continue reading →

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Why you need to encourage dissenters and doubters

Posted on October 18, 2023 by managingoutcomes

A scathing assessment of management failure at disgraced PwC exposed the company’s “whatever it takes” approach, which led to partners turning a blind eye to bad behaviour in pursuit of profit. While that judgement dominated the headlines, of special interest to … Continue reading →

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How moral blindness breeds plummeting corporate reputation

Posted on October 3, 2023 by managingoutcomes

Qantas. PwC. Rio Tinto. Optus. Telstra. Medibank. Facebook/Meta. Twitter/X. Any of the big banks. The sound you can hear across the big end of town is the shredding of reputations in the wake of corporate crises, often triggered by moral … Continue reading →

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Lessons in leadership and communication from a city flood crisis

Posted on May 2, 2023 by managingoutcomes

A damning report has been released into the response to devastating floods which struck Auckland in January. It exposes a shocking litany of failed leadership, faulty communication, and inadequate crisis preparedness in New Zealand’s largest city. The flood – caused … Continue reading →

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Cyber-security needs more crisis preparedness, less blame-shifting

Posted on April 18, 2023 by managingoutcomes

How many more times will we have to hear some struggling organisation announce that a cyber-breach or data leak was caused by failure at a third party contractor. It might be true, and it might be an explanation, but it’s … Continue reading →

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An advertising mistake helped lose $100 billion … and who’s to blame?

Posted on April 3, 2023 by managingoutcomes

When an advertisement goes terribly wrong who’s to blame? That surely must have been the question at Google after the launch of their new AI tool Bard. An accompanying online advertisement showed the Chatbot wrongly answering a simple question, saying the … Continue reading →

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Unintended consequences and the great chicken disaster

Posted on February 2, 2023 by managingoutcomes

Every issue management plan should have a clearly defined purpose. But what happens when the result is an unwanted or unwelcome outcome? When what seemed like a good idea has unintended adverse consequences?  Consider when New Zealand introduced new regulations … Continue reading →

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Never underestimate the crippling cost of a crisis

Posted on December 2, 2022 by managingoutcomes

With cyber-attacks in the headlines, a new report provides a gloomy reminder of the deep and long-lasting impact when things go wrong in public corporations. Fresh analysis by SenateSHJ showed companies struck by a crisis suffered, on average, a drop … Continue reading →

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Using the wrong image can crater your reputation

Posted on November 2, 2022 by managingoutcomes

While communicators tend to focus on the importance of words, the wrong image can have an even more immediate impact on reputation. Take what has just happened when American Republican leaders unveiled their “Commitment to America” agenda for 2023 ― and … Continue reading →

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