Some corporations spend millions of dollars on so-called Â"crisis communication plans.Â" Others offer lip service, avoiding the subject like the plague. They simply hope for the best, praying that they never face a crisis. Either way, as Steve Adubato says, Â"Wishful thinking is no substitute for a strategic plan.Â"Nationally recognized communication coach and four-time Emmy AwardÂ-winning broadcaster Steve Adubato has been teaching, writing, and thinking about commÂunication, leadership, and crisis communication for nearly two decades. In What Were They Thinking? Adubato examines twenty-two controversial and complex public relations and media mishaps, many of which were played out in public. Among cases and people discussed are:The Johnson & Johnson Tylenol scare: Perhaps the best crisis management everDon Imus: Sometimes saying Â"sorryÂ" is too little too lateFormer Attorney General Alberto Gonzales: Authority does not put you above questioningBill OÂ'Reilly: Know when to stop defending yourself and save faceFormer EPA Administrator Christie Whitman: Proof that your written words can come back to haunt youHurricane Katrina: A natural disaster that led to a larger governmental disasterThe Catholic ChurchÂ's pedophilia scandal: Denial wonÂ't get rid of the skeletons in your closetArranged in short chapters detailing each case individually, the book provides a brief history of the topics and answers the questions: Who got it right? Who got it wrong? What can the rest of us learn from them?.
What Were They Thinking? : Crisis Communication: the Good, the Bad, and the Totally Clueless