Damage Control (Revised & Updated): The Essential Lessons of Crisis Management

by Eric Dezenhall, John Weber

No one knows this better than Eric Dezenhall and John Weber, who help companies, politicians, and celebrities get out of various kinds of trouble. In this brutally honest and eye-opening guide, they take you behind the scenes of some of the biggest public relations successes—and debacles—of modern business, politics, and entertainment.
You’ll discover:
• Why the 1982 Tylenol cyanide-poisoning case is always cited as the best model for damage control, when in fact it has no relevance to the typical corporate crisis.
• Why Audi never fully recovered from driver accusations of “sudden acceleration”—despite evidence that nothing was wrong with their cars.
• What the crises faced by George W. Bush, Jim McGreevey, Sammy Sosa, Lance Armstrong, Martha Stewart, Coca-Cola, and the Catholic Church have in common . . . and what they don’t.

This new revised edition includes an additional chapter "Our Permanent Leakocracy" including information about WikiLeaks and what that notorious case means for business.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, Management, Leadership, Self Help, Psychology, Politics

256 pages, Paperback

First published April 20, 2007

About the author

Eric Dezenhall is a journalist and author of twelve books, including three non-fiction texts on crisis communications. Other areas of expertise include organized crime and the intelligence community. He is the Chairman and co-founder of Dezenhall Resources, One of the country's first crisis communications firms. He lectures in academic and business circles and appears in international media including NPR, CNN, FOX, CNBC, MSNBC and the History Channel. He has written for the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, and USA Today.

Eric’s work is widely cited in business, media, and academic circles. His book, Best of Enemies with Gus Russo, is being made into a feature film. He is also the author of seven novels, including The Devil Himself, based on the true story of the U.S. Navy’s collaboration with organized crime in WWII. His latest non-fiction book, Wiseguys and the White House, documents when mobsters and presidents traded favors -- and double crossed each other. Eric graduated from Dartmouth College and lives near Washington, D.C., with his family.

Reviews

[daemyra, the realm's delight · Rating 4 out of 5]

"We are the trauma surgeons of public relations...Crisis management is the enterprise of telling ugly truths."

If you work in the field of communications or have a natural curiosity for why some corporations break under crisis from media scrutiny while others rise from their ashes, this will be an interesting read. This book is written by communications professionals that tout their expertise in the field early on, and their experience is vital, from not only the case studies that they use to illustrate their arguments, but also from the observations they gathered and the advice they provided. Depending on your interest, you may find some chapters more relevant than others. However, as this book is intended to be a "no-holds-barred practical guide geared towards those who want to learn about the harsh realities of crisis management," I found it all fascinating in taking a practical look at the discipline and how PR fits in.

The author's understanding of crisis communications is fuelled by cynicism, in both what drives crises but also in the solutions. I enjoyed this take. There is a real understanding that due to budget cuts, the media does not have time to double-check everything that comes onto their desk as a story, and that the public is not a rational, logical beast. The beginning and middle of the book were strong, but closer to the end, the messaging gets repetitive with familiar lessons. And some predictions are humourous in a sad way in retrospect. Similar to every other human on the planet, the authors assumed Hillary Clinton "fulfilling her dream of being the first woman, and second Clinton, in the Oval Office."

Several takeaways that linger is the fact that a strategic plan will not help a corporation in crisis - it is for the leader to sense and act upon the best course of action, given limited information, in order to mitigate as much as damage as is possible. While there will be lawyers, PR people, and technical staff all providing their input on how best to move forward when scandal hits, in the end, the leader needs to know when to act. Another is that corporation should assume crisis is fuelled by agendas, not logic, and that means communicating sometimes is not enough for a counterattack. It is therefore about power, not information. This view of crisis management is opposed to the more conventional approach in public relations. The PR model assumes crises are organic and resolvable through good comms, but real crises involve opponents that care more about proving their point than listening.

[Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fairly entertaining and informative read. Keep in mind that one motive of this book is to build the author's brand (he doesn't say that, but you can easily pick up on it). Dezenhall provides some good principles on damage control that seem logical and reasonable. He provides examples that support his principles and even provides some of his own case studies (though the actual names have largely been redacted). He does not provide a step by step guide but that is one of his points. Damage control is a fluid response that has to change for each case. The book is a little dated now, but the principles remain solid. He also makes some predictions that have held up with time. Overall, this was a good read.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this for a class about PR and it was really insightful. There were some biases that came through; however, the overall focus was showcasing case studies of crisis communication efforts, best practices with dealing with crises and future predictions of crisis trends. It would've been helpful to feature non-corporate/political/private sector organizations, such as higher education and non-profits.

[Christopher Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read that I enjoyed overall. I particularly was interested in the unconventionality of the strategies and have definitely been looking at PR crisis’ differently since. Only critique is it was a little hard to focus and keep my attention occasionally. Still would recommend though!

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I don't agree with the authors on every point, they do a good job of providing some excellent examples and lay a strong argument for planning and responses that are fluid and based in context.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting theory on aggressive crisis communications and management.

[A Book Matchmaker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great information

While you have to be studying or really interested in the topic to enjoy reading this I thought it was a great book.

[Javier HG · Rating 4 out of 5]

Este libro interesará a l@s que hayan visto series como "Scandal" o "Ray Donovan", aunque su propio autor ha comentado en más de una ocasión que la profesión de gestor de crisis poco tiene que ver con lo que vemos en la ficción. Porque la gestión de crisis requiere de un equipo multidisciplinar (abogados, comunicación, expertos técnicos...), que tiene que estar bien liderado por alguien que pueda tomar decisiones sabiendo que no va a tener toda la información que necesita.

El libro de Eric Dezenhall explica muy bien cómo es gestionar una crisis, explicando la teoría con ejemplos conocidos y su experiencia como consultor. Para él lo más importante es darse cuenta de que las crisis no se arreglan "diciendo la verdad y pidiendo perdón", ya que muchas veces hay agentes (competidores, abogados, ONGs) que tienen un interés especial en que la polémica no desaparezca. Además las emociones suelen mandar: el público quiere creer en historias de "malos" y "buenos" en las que los datos y la objetividad brillan por su ausencia. Por eso la capacidad para el "storytelling" (aunque suene a cliché) es muy importante para estos profesionales.

Ojo, el libro insiste una y otra vez que ni el mejor profesional puede ayudar en una situación en la que no haya liderazgo. Para Dezenhall esa es la clave en la mayoría de los casos. No hay muchos consejeros delegados o personajes públicos que sepan afrontar una situación en la que se les ataca públicamente con información sesgada. La gran mayoría se suele bloquear y evita la exposición, sin darse cuenta que esa táctica invita ataques más furibundos ("¿qué oculta?" "¿por qué no aparece?").

Un libro interesante si te interesan la comunicación y la gestión de la opinión pública.

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The subtitle kind of captures the tone of this book: snarky and a little in your face. It is really focused on responding to crises or attacks if you are a large corporation or CEO and it is mostly an attack on cliched conventional wisdom about public relations; that the best way to handle crisis is to immediately say you were sorry, recall your product and convince the media to like you. The bottom line is that crisis management requires leadership and decision making, the ability or desire to fight back when needed, and the recognition that there really are people out to destroy your company or brand.

Not having worked in this industry or field, I am not sure I am the right audience for the book. And that also be why it didn't strike me as all that insightful. Perhaps in the ten years since the book was released these points have become more obvious and the climate the book is highlighting has become more widespread. But is a useful corrective to the tendency to think crisis management fits neatly into a PR framework or that being nice is the answer every time.

[Joseph · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was not what I expected, although it was somewhat interesting. I was hoping for a book on crisis management from a leadership perspective, but it was a really a guide to public relations strategies in the face of an organization's public crisis. The authors have an unconventional approach to these situations, and they critique famous corporate crises using this framework, which made it a useful examination of corporate strategy in times of stress. But it was not what I thought it would be.

[Sophia · Rating 2 out of 5]

It alternated between plain boring and corporate masturbation. I was not a fan but no surprise considering it was written by corporate spin whores who lack any moral compass. Also the patriarchal tone was palpable. I only recommend it if you are trying to be a soul-less corporate pawn.

[Liz · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can't believe this guy makes money as a crisis manager.

[Scott Bartlett · Rating 5 out of 5]

the big picture about facades and faces in the population market

[Charlie Pownall · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting, useful and provocative book, even if mostly about issues management and not crisis communications.

[Bender · Rating 1 out of 5]

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[Jeremy Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great book for understanding how to not only handle problems, but also how to actively avoid them. Loads of good advice from seasoned professionals in the field of crisis management.