Our firm belief is that an organization’s response to a crisis can have a larger impact on the viability and reputation of your institution than the underlying event or issue itself.
Managed well and the reputation of the organization and its leadership can be burnished. Managed poorly and the response is going to be remembered and the reputational damage significant.
Unfortunately, the odds of success are stacked against you in a crisis for a number of reasons:
- Something has gone or is about to go seriously wrong
- Organizations are typically slow to recognize the gravity of the situation they are about to face and are not proactive.
- Without a defined team process, the challenges of groupthink are exacerbated leading to sub-optimal analysis and decision-making.
- As we like to say, “Optimism is NOT a Strategy®” yet wishful thinking often becomes the modus operandi, and finally and perhaps most importantly
- Stakeholder scrutiny will be intense, and every single leadership decision will be critiqued with the clarity that only hindsight can provide
