June 30, 2010
As many of you know, I live in Atlanta, but for many years I have had family, friends and business relationships with people all over the Gulf Coast and the BP Oil Spill has been a cause of endless troubles for many in this region. While I have been involved in construction for my entire professional life of approximately 40 Years, I am in no way an expert on deep sea drilling.
But even with a layman’s knowledge of drilling for oil in such an environmentally sensitive area, I have to ask the question, “What were they thinking?”
No company, BP included, can be asked to be perfect. Anything man-made, from a steel pipe to an internet connection, has the potential of blowing up in your face or becoming disabled. That is not news. That is expected.
What should not be expected or permitted is to do that type of work and not have a viable plan to fix things when things break.
You do not know what kind of company a company is until they screw up. Any company can look good when things are going well. The true culture of a company is only exposed when they have problems, and we are all too knowledgeable that BP has problems.
First of all, they have not adequately controlled the spill. Additionally, they have issued inaccurate assessments of the severity of the spill, and they have become the textbook example of how to not handle Public Relations in a crisis.
But the major problem was they did not have a viable plan to control the rupture of a well that occurred a mile deep in the ocean.
Now, before the rest of us become too sanctimonious in regard to BP’s problems, I suggest we take a look in the mirror. None of us is perfect.
Does your company have a well thought out plan to handle a crisis? The time to think about this is now when there is no crisis.
What if you had a fire at your facility? What if, God forbid, any of us made a mistake and one of our products failed and hurt someone? What if your server was hacked and all of your payroll information was destroyed and employee’s confidential information was compromised? The list of what could happen is endless. Unfortunately, our time and attention are finite.
There is no way we can draw up a specific crisis plan for every possible crisis. However, that is not a reason to do nothing.
You can Google “Crisis Management” and get a lot of ideas about how to plan for a crisis and how to handle it when it occurs. However, nothing will take the place of a thoughtful consideration of your particular business and addressing, “What would you do if “X” happened?”
Now is the time to address your crisis management plans. The troubles that BP, and the residents of the Gulf Coast are facing, focuses our thoughts on the matter. So, “How is Your Oil Spill Kit?” I know ours could use some work and we are working on it.
Tool of the Week, Day, etc. – The attached link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AAa0gd7ClM will take you to a spoof on BP’s response to a “spill”. I do not want to trivialize in any way the hardships the “real spill” has put upon Gulf Coast Residents, but this video is too funny to let pass. Editor’s Note: There is an expletive at the end so view at your own discretion.
That is it for today. Post your comments on the Blog and let us stimulate the discussion.
Thanks,
Ted S. Miller