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Sunday, September 04, 2005
Universal truths from Katrina
I, like most of you, am overwhelmed by what we have watched on television for the last week. I worked for FEMA for seven years, and I’ve seen dozens of horrible disasters, including those where I wasn’t sure whether my own family members were OK.The one universal truth: If It’s your family, it’s the worst possible disaster.
Why didn’t everyone evacuate?
The second universal truth: we all avoid reality when it is too unpleasant to accept.
Who is to blame? We can’t begin to know that now.
The third universal truth: it is human nature to blame someone, anyone. Not ourselves. Not our god. So we have to find another target—usually those working the hardest to help because they are the handiest. They are the ones we are counting on to rescue us.
Blame is a nasty game. Right now, it’s a major waste of time. And I’m so exasperated with the news media I love who are trying to lay blame, even putting words in naïve people’s mouths. Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour had the cojones and experience to tell CNN to quit interrupting and trying to get him to blame someone. He was thankful for the cavalry that had ridden to his state; and wasn’t going to waste time blaming what wasn’t there yet. But the poor people stuck in the Superdome were all too glad to lash out. Can we blame these people? NO. Can we question the news media? YES. What could the media have been doing to be part of the solution, rather than the problem?
I spent a day in Austin welcoming evacuees to our city and our shelter as the stepped off the bus from the airport. I looked into the eyes of people who were, to a person, traumatized. My job was to take their pets from them for safekeeping. I had to convince them their pet would be well taken care of, that when they had a place to stay, we would bring the pet to them, wherever they are.
I had to say this many times over to some people. Why?
Another universal truth: under conditions of extreme stress and duress, one can’t necessarily hear what is being said. A few hours later, those people will ask where their pet is. They won’t remember. We gave them business cards with the phone number for the Humane Society. [None of these animals will be euthanized. They will be cared for at the shelter or fostered till the family is ready.]
I used to tell new FEMA field staff not to get frustrated at sayin the same thing over and over and over again during a disaster recovery. It’s OK because people can only hear what they are ready to hear. Eventually, they WILL hear what you are saying.
This is where we segue into the media and PR blog.
Before a crisis starts, you must have established a deep well of goodwill. That means you have been giving out good, helpful information over a period of time, and you have followed up with good, helpful actions. Your words must match your actions. This is branding at its core.
When tough times come, people have to be inclined to trust what you are saying. But you have to say it first!
This is part of the problem in Louisiana right now. The first story was how many people did not get out of New Orleans and how badly they were suffering and that it was the federal government’s fault. Nothing that is to come is likely to fully change that impression.
FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security may be able to mitigate the message that they were not prepared and were not up to the task, but they will be playing defense the entire season. Politics and good manners play into this. Can FEMA blame the victims? Blame the Louisiana government? Blame the Louisiana and New Orleans emergency management agencies? Blame Congress for underfunding? Doesn’t play well.
So the honorable thing to do now is plow ahead with the work to be done and deal with reputation later. If the time comes to admit fault, do it with honor and grace and statesmanship.
Universal crisis communications truths to be learned from Katrina:
• Establish an adequate reservoir of trust BEFORE you need to dip into it.
• Be the first with your message.
• Repeat the message till it's heard.
• Make your actions before and after a crisis match your message.
• Take it on the chin when it’s for the better good, and get ready for the next one.
Can you see how this would apply to your association? Your business? Your political candidate?
Comments:
Pam --
Your comments are so good and right on. There are a lot of lessons to be learned in any crisis that apply to all kinds of other situations.
I have to say, however, that the news about FEMA seems pretty grim; I wonder if it has become a different organization from the one you worked for. -- Maggie
I am not a very good communicator but I agree with you that people who did not evacuate on time should bare some responsabilities. But at the sametime knowingly how hard FEMA works I do not agree with the bashing and journalists should be more careful in their story telling and writtings. USA is a wonderful country to live in and we the people do more to help our people than many other countries. Lets built New Orleans and I am sure with all the studies other States might be better prepared, but will they be? Humans are humans they want everything fixed RIGHT NOW.