"A Billion Here, a Billion There, Pretty Soon You're Talking About Real Money"

The late Senator Everett Dirksen had it right when he talked about billion-dollar federal spending. We discuss a $700 billion bailout, but can we even imagine how much that really is? Look at it this way: If each one of those dollars were one second, it would take 22,197 years to reach 700 billion seconds.

Check my math, but I'm pretty sure that's right. Be relieved that, in your business, you'll never face a $700 billion crisis! Feel better now?

Don't Let Headlines -- Or Crises -- Get You Down

Ouch! As I read the morning paper, I felt the urge to pour a little something stronger than non-dairy creamer into my coffee:

"Bailout derailed; stocks plummet"

"Wachovia is latest bank to fall"

"40% say they're worse off financially than in '07"

And that was just the front page. There's more:

"Heart patients face risk of depression" (Don't we all?)

"Gas shortage plagues the Southeast"

"Remains in freezer may be two children"

"Deforestation of Amazon is up sharply"

I could go on, and you could add your own. I bring up negative news, and today feels worse than usual, to make a point. Pessimism breeds pessimism. The country has had worse times than now, and so have I personally. We'll get through this. Find ways to control the controllable and let go of that which is beyond your power.

It's the same in a business crisis. The situation at some point will often look bleak. Figure out the elements that you have control over and act. If you do, your organization will get through the crisis and learn from it. Manage your personal life as you would a business crisis. And whatever you do, don't lose your optimism or your sense of humor. You'll need them.

Many Times, a Simple Apology Is All You Need

Five people walk into a McDonald's in Louisville. While waiting for their food, they claim a female employee behind the counter referred to them as "faggots." They ask to speak to the manager and, while they're waiting, they say the clerk argues with them and repeatedly uses more anti-gay terms. When the supervisor appears, she thinks the whole thing is no big deal and not worth her time.

Well, it's a big deal now. The two men who were offended were visiting from Indianapolis. They tried several times in the next few weeks to call the general manager of McDonald's. They say the staff hung up on them. They filed reports with a corporate customer service number for McDonald's, but never received a response. Then, not just offended but frustrated as well, they filed a complaint with Louisville's Metro Human Relations Commission, which enforces the city's ordinance that prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation. In addition, the American Civil Liberties Union is involved. The ACLU's Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Project staff attorney said the complaint cites both the local restaurant and the McDonald's Corporation.

What does the pair want from McDonald's? An apology, a refund of the $28 spent there by the five friends, and appropriate disciplinary action against the employee. That sounds like a pretty easy fix to a crisis that, if ignored, could continue to gain attention and controversy. I wish McDonald's would hire the Institute for Crisis Management to help wiggle out of this toughie. My advice: Say you're sorry, pay the $28, tell the clerk to stay home for a week, and then return to making Big Macs. There. No charge.

Even Good Companies Sometimes Have Bad Suppliers; Be Ready

From China, the land of lead paint in toys, comes news of tainted baby formula. Melamine, an industrial chemical added to Sanlu formula to make it appear higher in protein, causes kidney stones and kidney failure. So far, four babies have died, 6,000 have been sickened, and 1,300 remain hospitalized.

I thought many U.S. companies were slow to respond in a crisis, but Sanlu Group Co. gets my award so far for 2008. The company received complaints about its formula in March; found test results in early August that revealed the contamination; and waited until September 11 to issue a recall, but only after a New Zealand company told the New Zealand government who reported it to the Chinese government.

Now the country's quality control agency reports that one-fifth of companies producing baby formula in China had melamine in their products. It seems suppliers, trying to cut costs, have been watering down milk and adding melamine to cover up the resulting protein deficiency.

I'm glad nothing like this could ever happen here. Let me remove tongue from cheek and suggest you include in your crisis communications plan a section dealing with defective supplies that you unwittingly may distribute to the public. It has happened before and it will happen again. How will you explain it to your key stakeholders? And if you still don't have your crisis communications plan written, what are you waiting for?

Whatever You Do, Don't Speculate To Your Stakeholders

Larry Smith, president of the Institute for Crisis Management, tells participants in his firm's Certification Course, "If I ever hear you speculate about anything in a media interview, I will hunt you down and haunt you for the rest of your life." It appears, Larry, that you need to pay a ghostly visit to Denise Tyrrell.

Tyrrell was the spokeswoman for Metrolink, the transport system in Los Angeles that suffered the horrible train accident that killed at least 25 and injured 135 last week. On Saturday, she said, "We believe it was our engineer who failed to stop at the signal." Apparently, "we" didn't include the Metrolink board of directors, who called her pronouncement "premature." Tyrrell promptly resigned from her position.

I don't know what might have gone on behind the scenes in this case. But I do know you need to be sure your spokesperson, management, board, and legal are all on the same page during a crisis. And it provides me the opportunity to warn you, don't speculate. Believe me: You don't want Larry Smith haunting you for the rest of your days.

For more information on the Institute for Crisis Management's two-day Certification Course, see http://www.crisisexperts.com/certcourses_main.htm.

Bed Bath & Not Beyond Compassionate Common Sense

Retailer Bed Bath & Beyond's corporate headquarters has committed to retraining employees following an incident in Lexington, Kentucky, last Saturday. A couple entered the store and requested the manager to call 911 after they found a toddler locked in a van with the windows up. The manager refused, saying it was the company's policy not to get involved with incidents in the parking lot. Bed Bath & Beyond said the manager misunderstood the company's policy by failing to notify police.

Following company policy is usually a good thing. Using common sense and placing the safety of customers and others first is always a good thing. Train your employees to understand policy, but make sure they are capable of making good decisions that will keep you out of the court of law and the court of negative public opinion.

The Fayette County prosecutor is reviewing state statutes to see if Bed Bath & Beyond can be charged with any crime. The child's mother, meanwhile, has been arraigned on charges of first-degree wanton endangerment.

Another Residential Treatment Facility Is Caught Unprepared

Two posts below this one, I wrote about group homes and the importance of having a crisis communications plan. I bring you Exhibit B:

Green Meadows Health Care Center in Mount Washington, Kentucky, has lost is Medicaid and Medicare funds because it failed to meet federal standards. A Type A citation (the most serious kind) from the state in August revealed that residents had been "slapped, choked, bitten, hit, kicked, and pinned against a wall" by other residents. The citation stated, "The facility was aware of these residents' combative behaviors but failed to provide supervision as needed to prevent further incidents." The citation went on to detail injuries suffered by residents in falls when they were unsupervised and not provided with appropriate safety measures.

This case could be the new poster child for how smoldering crises can get away from you -- someone knows about a problem but does nothing to fix it until it grows into a crisis. Guess whether Green Meadows had a crisis plan in place that was regularly practiced. Hint: The Courier-Journal article on September 10 explained, "A woman who answered the phone at Green Meadows yesterday said, 'We have no comment at this time, thank you,' and hung up." (http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080910/ZONE10/809100765/1008/NEWS01)

The Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services is providing assistance to relocate residents to other facilities. Mount Washington Health Care LLC, a for-profit company that owns Green Meadows, failed to provide the kind of environment that prevents smoldering crises from erupting into a full-blown blaze. In addition, the company so far is failing to respond to the crisis in a manner that could lead to a reinstatement of its federal funding and a restoration of confidence among residents and their families.