Why many media training tutorials may have to be rewritten soon
A few days ago I came across an interesting article in politico.com, the Washington-based political publication covering the U.S. Congress, lobbying, media and the presidency. Founded in 2007 by two former Washington Post editors, it’s today seen as the leading source for analysis of the political arena in the U.S. […] Read more
Six inconvenient truths about today’s media world. And what it means for communicators.
A few weeks ago I spoke at the European Communications Summit 2016 in Brussels, on invitation by the European Association of Communication Directors (EACD). During the conference, a lot of talking was delivered about social acceptance and the “license to operate” for corporations, issued by the general public, whoever that exactly […] Read more
Owning a crisis: a tough but necessary call
More often than not, a crisis is not necessarily caused by the company. In many cases, the cause of the crisis (or issue) cannot even be controlled by the company. But still, it’s the response to the situation that matters. Failure to respond appropriately will result in negative headlines, serious flak […] Read more
Deutsche Telekom with gaping hole in its alarm plan
It’s smarter to learn from the failure of others than from your own. German telecom giant Deutsche Telekom was kind enough to teach us a lesson this weekend how NOT to prepare for a crisis. Early Saturday morning, a “database error” caused a major blackout of their mobile voice and data […] Read more
The Rhythm of Managing a Crisis
If you respond to a crisis, it requires doing a lot of right things, and doing them right: You need to have access to the right resources, the right people, the right tools, and you must find the right tone. But one crucial element is often overlooked: the right rhythm. Managing a crisis at […] Read more
Empathy, a tough exercise sometimes
A statement of a CEO or a high-ranking government official is one of the rituals following an accident or disaster with fatalities. The words are meant to give comfort, express sympathies, in other words: show empathy. However, good intentions and good results don’t always go well together. Read more
Daa dahhh… my article, published in a new “must-read” book
When I entered my office today, I found a large envelope on my desk. Inside: A book! The first two copies of a book I contributed to. It’s a sampler with a number of articles, one of them being from me, which makes it a “must-read”… My apologies: the book is available in […] Read more
Simple plans for a complicated world
In the recently published book “Simple Rules: How to thrive in a complex world”, MIT and Stanford authors Donald Sull and Kathleen Eisenhardt show how simple rules often lead to better decisions or actions, by taking away those considerations which are not relevant for the solution. Can this also be […] Read more
Parts of this post will unsettle you…
German Federal Minister of the Interior, Dr. Thomas de Maizière, is well-known for his verbal slips, which make him a frequent “guest” in late night comedy shows and such. But even he was able to one-up himself, when he gave a press conference on November 18, 2015, on the cancellation […] Read more
Some thoughts on “thoughts and prayers”
It took not long after the fatal shooting yesterday at San Bernadino, which took the lives of 14 victims, until numerous Republican politicans tweeted their “thoughts and prayers”, the universal, politically correct and non-religious code for grieving in public. Read more