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A J O U R NA L O F C O M M U N I C AT I O N S A N D C O R P O R AT E R E L AT I O N S I S S U E 1 5 2 0 1 8 The WORDS Issue MARK PALMER, former Enron spokesman, on telling the truth MARY BEARD talks about Women & Power The man behind the HASHTAG The Shakespeare of SILICON VALLEY Plus Christopher Dodd and Dambisa Moyo
Brunswick is an advisory firm specializing in business
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editor-in-chief Kevin Helliker
managing editor Carlton Wilkinson
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deputy editor Edward Stephens
content production manager Laura Templer
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feedback feedbackreview@brunswickgroup.com Copyright © Brunswick Group LLP 2018
T
he talent and gift of communications and
language is obviously one of the great differentiators
between us and other animals. We have been able to
talk in complex ways for tens of thousands of years, if
not more, but it is easy to forget that the written word
is a quite recent phenomenon. Only just over 5,000
years ago, the Sumerians made written words come to
life, pressing cuneiform characters into clay tablets.
We have come a long way in 5,000 years. Today, an average
of 23 billion text messages are sent per day, and 350,000 tweets
per minute. With such volumes on multiple channels and visual
content powering up everywhere, one might expect written or
spoken words to have a diminished importance. Actually, we
believe the opposite. One of the many great opportunities of the
digital world is that we can all become publishers. The power
and reach of effective content, written or spoken, has never
been greater. In their book, Everybody’s Business, Brunswick SIR ALAN PARKER
Partners Lucy Parker and Jon Miller defined us as being in the CHAIRMAN,
Age of Conversation. We cannot control the conversations going BRUNSWICK GROUP
on around us inside or outside our organizations, but we can
contribute to, and sometimes shape, those conversations with the
power of great and powerful content and how we use our words.
It feels like sound bites, bumper stickers and tweets have the
greatest impact. They are more easily shared and re-shared,
such as “Make America Great Again.” But most glance off of
us. Headlines and sound bites catch our eyes, but well-crafted
and thoughtful words can capture our hearts and minds and,
in a digital age, they can go further and last longer. As we have
exponentially increased our consumption of words and media,
it seems we have also sharpened the mental and critical faculties
for greater editorial competence. We can discard more of what
comes at us as we pick out what we want to fully engage with. The
paradigm has moved to pulling content, not pushing it.
The challenge for the corporate world is that we start from a low THE BEST
level of trust – corporate speak, legalese and spin not only fail to
deliver, but can even be hugely damaging. Humanity, authenticity
WORDS ARE ABLE
and honesty always rule the day. Our CEO and my colleague Neal NOT ONLY TO
Wolin, in this edition, quotes Ernest Hemingway, reminding us COMMUNICATE
that the way to approach the task of writing is to “start with one
true sentence”– everything else comes from that.
A POINT OF VIEW,
The best words are able not only to communicate a point of BUT TO CONNECT
AND SHOW
PHOTOGRAPH: DAVID REES
view, but to connect and show you see the world the way others
see it. Helping clients make their case and make those connections
has always been at the heart of what we do at Brunswick.
YOU SEE THE
I hope you enjoy this edition as we celebrate the extraordinary, WORLD THE WAY
wonderful and potentially magical power of words. OTHERS SEE IT
b ru n s w i c k rev i ew · i s s u e 1 5 · 2 0 1 8 3
10,000 SPEECHES
22 Former US Senator
Christopher Dodd talks
to Brunswick’s Casey
Becker about the power
of words and stories
6 QUOTES FROM THE ISSUE
“You can’t spin your way out of
LESSONS FROM THE FRONT
Brunswick’s Mark Palmer offers 12
trouble you acted your way into” lessons from his traumatic days at
– Mark Palmer Enron, where he proved that a
corporate spokesman can emerge
from scandal with his integrity
7 SPOTLIGHT SECTION
Insights from Brunswick colleagues
around the world
and reputation intact
12
7C
HURCHILL LESSON The
master’s words sometimes
YES COMMENT
“No comment” is no longer a
safe way for companies to dodge
19
overplayed the occasion
8H
ONESTY IS POLICY tough questions
Corporations have an obligation
to tell the truth, not to entertain
9 AFRICA SURPRISES M&A and
#SORRYNOTSORRY
Apologizing on Twitter isn’t as easy 20
democratic reforms are on the rise as it may seem
BREXIT is messy business, says
10
Brunswick’s Pascal Lamy,
a former WTO Director
”FOR PERSONAL REASONS”
The old euphemisms for executive 21
departures no longer suffice
9 WELCOME TO THE WORDS ISSUE
11 Brunswick CEO Neal Wolin
writes: “Best to lead by this credo:
ALL TOO FAMILIAR
Germans are conflicted about the 27
8 Words matter, always” spread of US-style informality 20
4 b ru n s w i c k rev i ew · i s s u e 1 5 · 2 0 1 8
THE WORDS ISSUE
SINGAPORE SLANG
28 The fledgling city-state’s economic
miracle began with its unlikely
EUROGLISH
Brussels English is shot through with
slang and words from other
54
choice of an official language European languages, and is evolving
into a new lingua franca for the EU
30 MARY BEARD
The celebrated author, classicist
and feminist tells Brunswick’s
Edward Stephens that it will
THE BIRTH OF THE ADVERTORIAL
The pugilistic style of legendary 56
Mobil executive Herb Schmertz
take more than a hashtag to remade corporate communications
overcome thousands of years of
the silencing of women
35
THE POWER OF AUTHENTICITY
A word-for-word translation isn’t the 58
33 FROM THE TOP
Four CEOs reveal particular words
best way to reach your audience
that helped define their styles
CHINESE IN YOUR POCKET
Computers are using a more 59
35 STRATEGY OVERLOAD
Seemingly everything today is
described as “strategic,” rendering
human approach to translation, with
results that are greatly improved
that word all but meaningless
INTERVIEW: QUID FOUNDER
A student of literature uses 60
37 DUKE OF DEVONSHIRE
A small bookshop in London’s
words to find overlooked patterns
in the chaos of cyberspace
Mayfair has a history rich in literary
– and literal – nobility
30 CYBER RESILIENCE
DarkMatter guards the Middle East’s 64
40 INTERVIEW: DAMBISA MOYO
The author, economist and Chevron
board member talks about the
explosive growth of connectivity
future of democracy, and her love of
her native Zambia
BUILD A BETTER PASSWORD
A good password doesn’t have to be 67
impossible to remember
HE CREATED THE HASHTAG
44 Chris Messina talks about the
practicalities and politics behind
INTERVIEW: AVIV OVADYA
The leading prophet of a looming 68
the symbol “infocalypse” warns that businesses
must act now to be prepared
47 PHILOSOPHY’S ODD TURN
This tongue-in-cheek essay argues Stories on art, business, and
politics beyond our main theme 71
that modern corporate 67
communications can be traced to
Wittgenstein BOARDS IN BRAZIL 71 WIDE ANGLE
The nation emerges from the
expansive “Lava Jato” probes with a
THE POETRY-WRITING CEO
50 Jaithirth Rao, founder of India’s
MphasiS, talks about his love for
clearer definition of transparency
INTERVIEW: MIGUEL MADURO 73
plain speaking and W.H. Auden The head of a new EU school talks
about governance beyond the state
INTERVIEW: CARLA KRIWET 76
52 MAKING “LOVE”
The iconic sculpture by Robert How Philips competes with
Silicon Valley for talent
Indiana grew out of his fascination
with words – and old wooden beams INTERVIEW: WES MOORE 80
The CEO of Robin Hood tells of its
role as Wall Street’s favorite charity
53 BREAKING THE RULES
The Economist’s language CRITICAL MOMENT 82
columnist notes that even Jane Physicist Stephen Hawking’s
Austen broke the rules of grammar 40 triumphs over chaos were ours
b ru n s w i c k rev i ew · i s s u e 1 5 · 2 0 1 8 5
“The solution is a combination “I happened to contribute “Of all the headwinds
of bravery and the ability to this interesting, small little democracies are facing, the
recognize the words you hear hack on language.” overarching one is myopia.”
yourself speaking as your own.” CHRIS MESSINA DAMBISA MOYO
MARY BEARD Creator of the hashtag Best-selling author, economist,
Best-selling author, classics 44 and Chevron Board Member
professor at Cambridge 40
30 “Occasionally, you might
speak a phrase that people “Probably the worst and the
“You can’t spin your will recall. But what best things that will happen
way out of trouble you acted they remember is how you we can’t quite predict. But that
your way into.” made them feel.” doesn’t absolve us from doing
MARK PALMER our best to predict them.”
CHRISTOPHER DODD
Brunswick US Managing Partner AVIV OVADYA
Former US Senator
and former Enron spokesman Chief Technologist,
22
12 University of Michigan’s Center for
Social Media Responsibility
“The world is awash in data – “Honesty about why executives 68
most of it numbers. But leave has a powerful effect
floating along in the sea of data on those who stay.” “He mobilized the English
is language, arguably SHAHED LARSON language and sent it into battle.”
Brunswick Partner US President JOHN F. KENNEDY
the most important way in 21 Speaking of former British
which humans make sense Prime Minister Winston Churchill
of the world.” 7
BOB GOODSON
CEO, Quid “A room without books in it is
60 quite a depressing place.”
DUKE OF DEVONSHIRE
Owner of Heywood Hill
bookshop
37
QUOTES
from the
issue
ILLUSTRATION: EDMON DE HARO
6
SP TLIGHT
Sharing insights
from Brunswick
colleagues around
the world on a
medley of topics
I
n 1899, a parliamentary
candidate from Oldham stood
to address a local church
gathering. “Never before in
the history of Oldham have so
many people had so much to
Of TIME&PLACE
eat,” he declared. As a junior
minister nine years later, the
same politician stood beside an
irrigation project in Africa and
said, “Never before in the history
of Africa has so much water been
held up by so little masonry.”
Before he became the greatest
orator in British history, before
he won the Nobel Prize in
Literature, Sir Winston Churchill
gave speeches that surely
generated some mirth. “He was
renowned throughout his career
for lavishing verbosity on issues
that simply didn’t warrant it,”
said Philip Collins, the author
and speechwriter for former
British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Appearing on an Intelligence
Squared panel called “Words that
Changed the World,” Mr. Collins
argued that the perfect context
PHOTOGRAPH: MILITARY HISTORY COLLECTION / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO
for Mr. Churchill’s grave tone
and tenor arose only when he was
in his 60s, and serving as British
Prime Minister amid the Nazi
invasion of western Europe.
Of Mr. Churchill’s speeches
in 1940, Mr. Collins said, “What
gives them their real gravity is the
fact that the peril is real.”
For me and for others who
work with words and who love
the Churchill legacy, Mr. Collins’
lesson is worth remembering. If
we try to emulate the great orator
on behalf of a brand or product,
we could succeed – and sound as
cartoonish as Mr. Churchill did at
that Oldham event.
b ru n s w i c k rev i ew · i s s u e 1 5 · 2 0 1 8 7
SPOTLIGHT
That isn’t to say Mr. Churchill
isn’t worth studying for routine
tips about words and writing.
“Short words are the best, and the
old words best of all,” he said.
In an unpublished 1897
piece called “The Scaffolding The point of corporate tell it as often as needs be – but
of Rhetoric,” Mr. Churchill communications is repeat the same message on the
identified what he thought not to entertain, but to same facts. There is no need to
were the principal elements of tell the truth improvise, nor to elaborate. As
pressure rises, the same truth
Exacting HONESTY
a great speech: correctness of
diction, rhythm, accumulation of can be repeated. This is now
argument and analogy. commonly done, for example, in
T
Deliberate writers will also take he leader of a public corruption cases.
particular comfort in knowing company has a duty to “The Board will not allow
that Churchill was slow. He inform the public of material corrupt behavior in this company
estimated one hour of work for events that an investor, actual and will sort it out at once,” is a
every minute of a speech. or prospective, would consider typical example. This statement
Obviously, those traits alone significant in deciding whether is fact. It tells the market what
don’t account for his brilliant flair to buy or sell the shares. He or the view of its Board is, and
with words and thankfully he she must tell the truth – and shows their determination to
offers other hints. As a film-maker, tell it as soon as is reasonably deal with it.
I’m especially interested in how practicable. He has no duty It is tempting to shift from
he described his writing style as to spin, nor to comment, nor the provision of necessary
a “rapid succession of waves of entertain, although in the information material and
sound and vivid pictures.” pressure of the moment, many useful to the market and, under
go down this path. pressure, stray into the realms
“Short words are The audience, in the form
of the media, have much more
of entertainment – “feeding the
beast” may be the function of the
the best, and the old freedom. They can comment,
they can entertain, they can
media, but it is not the function
of the company.
words best of all” write, or broadcast, from a point
of view: left or right, capitalist or
The CEO is concerned with
what the public needs to know.
Winston Churchill
communist, young or old. Some He may wish to elaborate
One hopes that circumstances public-service broadcasters have and expand, according to his
never arise to emulate Prime duties imposed by the state; the temperament, but he would do
Minister Churchill in his BBC, for example, has a duty to well to always bear in mind the
moments of greatness. The most be “impartial” in its coverage. But questions, “Am I informing or
eminent Churchill historian, Dr. while many in the private media am I entertaining?” and “If I
Andrew Roberts, says, “An awful strive mightily for accuracy and comment, why do I comment?”
lot of people thought that it was have strong ethical standards, One last word – on apologies:
impossible to beat the Nazis, yet
what Winston Churchill did, by
they are entitled to select what It can be hard to When disaster strikes, an apology
is often necessary and usually
they report, and decide upon
constantly putting Britain’s peril which particular facets in the stick to the mantra welcome. It shows ownership,
in the greater historical context courage and sympathy. It need
of other times that Britain had
diamond of truth they wish to
shine their light. of “FACTS ONLY” not become an admission of legal
nearly been invaded, but had
been ultimately successful, he
A chief executive has no such
luxury. He has to tell it like it in a fast-developing, liability; lawyers’ fears in this area
are overdone.
managed to tell the British people
that this could happen again.”
is, and dangers surround him
if he launches into the areas of
unexpected One can be very sorry that
something has happened,
Or, as US President John F.
Kennedy said of Mr. Churchill:
comment or entertainment.
“A storm in a teacup,” “a minor
and unwanted whether an explosion or a share
price collapse; saying sorry
“He mobilized the English
language and sent it into battle.”
incident,” “a forgivable error” can
be claimed by the commentators,
situation and expressing sympathy with
the victims is a proper human
Churchill’s greatest legacy may but less easily by the miscreant. instinct. Sympathy and sorrow
ILLUSTRATION: SERGE BLOCH
be his assurance that victory can It can be hard to stick to the straightforward. First, find and a determination to put
be achieved against all odds. As mantra of “facts only” in a fast- the truth. (This is not easy in things right are not the same as
Churchill himself once put it, developing, unexpected and complex organizations that have professing guilt. Apologies need
“Never flinch, never weary, unwanted situation. lost their way.) When the truth not be about fault or liability –
never despair.” Viewed this way, however, has been found, if it is materially they are about empathy.
Sonal R. Patel is an Executive communication becomes different from market knowledge Rob Webb QC is a Brunswick Senior
Producer for MerchantCantos. much simpler; the rules are or perception, tell it; tell it all and Adviser based in London.
8 b ru n s w i c k rev i ew · i s s u e 1 5 · 2 0 1 8
global economic alignment.
Between 2004 and 2014, Sub-
Saharan Africa became the world’s
second-fastest-growing region
after Asia Pacific, driven in large
part by the voracious demand
for natural resources created by
China’s rapid industrialization.
However, structural changes – the
direct result of political shifts
toward democratic accountability
and good governance – played a
critical role.
Applying these trends across
broad sections of the continent
would be an oversimplification.
Among the Eurasia Group’s top
10 global risks for 2018 is rising
terrorism in Africa, with the
Western powers increasingly
Cape Town’s Table Mountain
distracted by their own domestic
carries its “table cloth” of
clouds – a sign, legend has it, politics. Among the best
of a smoking contest between performing economies on the
a local pirate and the Devil. continent, Ethiopia and Rwanda
aren’t exactly model democracies.
But they are predictably governed
AFRICA bucks of defense. Yet early evidence
suggests that João Lourenço,
risk for inbound mergers last year
was almost exclusively due to the
and focused on trying to
prioritize economic development
the political technocratic general and newly
elected president, deserves his
most sophisticated democracy on
the continent: South Africa.
over political squabbling.
However, in key economies,
risk trend
corruption-free reputation – South Africa accounts for private markets are growing
almost immediately he pushed nearly two-thirds of Africa’s M&A and thriving. While the decade
back against military cronyism activity by value and about half of growth was not driven by
S
ociologist daniel bell, and nepotism. by volume. Political uncertainty manufacturing, early signs show
writing in the 1950s about In Liberia, the winner in brought inbound deals by it may be on the rise, aided
mid-20th century ideologies, the country’s first democratic volume down 45 percent in the again by China’s expanding
observed, “the old passions presidential election invited first quarter of 2017 – though appetite. Combined with
are spent.” That turns out to members of the losing party to measured by value, that activity Africa’s technology leapfrogging
be wrong, as recent political join him in a unity cabinet. Africa was up significantly. in areas such as fintech and
contests for the souls of major is full of surprises. The hype about South Africa’s communications, this might just
western societies shows. The Political risk, once considered institutional arrangements sustain the continent’s promise as
brutal rebellion against liberal purged everywhere but in Africa, is proving warranted. This is the world’s next major market.
values and globalization in major is for the third year the primary encouraging and should help the Itumeleng Mahabane is a
PHOTOGRAPHS: DAN ROWLANDS / TOP, ROBERT MUCKLEY/GETTY IMAGES
Western democracies is a potent threat to global trade. But across region be more resilient to inward Partner and Head of Brunswick’s
reminder that societal change is Africa, the significant political investment at a key moment of South Africa office.
a predictable force – constructive
change is not.
African countries are doing HIGH-TECH MARKETING
their own up-ending of the world SANDWICH SIGN goes viral has been humbled recently
view, but landing in a surprisingly by the good old-fashioned sandwich board. Propped on a
more positive posture. Last year, sidewalk or hung from a human being, the classic ad form hit
Zimbabwe saw something as close peak popularity in the 19th century, then faded into irrelevance.
to a legal coup as you can get – Until early this year, that is, when a lowly sandwich board
and suddenly, a place that pretty outside a Denver coffee shop made national headlines, including
much everyone had written off on the front page of The New York Times. Shared widely on
social media, the board’s message – “Happily gentrifying the
is on an all-out charm offensive
neighborhood since 2014” – drew hundreds of gentrification
with Western investors.
opponents to the coffee shop, temporarily forcing its closure.
In Angola, many were cynical In Manchester, England, meanwhile, a sandwich board outside
about elections and the transition a café noted that an online reviewer had criticized its porridge.
of political power from a colonial The board made national news by inviting passers-by to give the
revolutionary leader to his disparaged porridge a try. Lesson: A punchy message can break
comrade in arms and minister through the limits of any medium.
b ru n s w i c k rev i ew · i s s u e 1 5 · 2 0 1 8 9
SPOTLIGHT
Brexit remains messy at Depending on the manner
best and its costs, of its departure, Britain faces an
unclear, says Brunswick economic or a political price.
Geopolitical’s Pascal Lamy The more the UK leaves the EU,
W
e’re approaching the the steeper the economic price
two-year anniversary of tag. A softer withdrawal reduces
the Brexit vote. economic costs, but increases
And still the mechanics of how political ones. Britain can, of
the UK will leave the EU, and at course, leave and negotiate new
what cost, are unclear and hotly trade agreements. But can they
debated. I expect we’ll see more do better with a market of 60
talk than progress for a long while. million consumers than they
I’ve compared the UK trying did in a market of 500 million
to leave the EU to a chef trying to consumers? I’m not so sure. In
remove an egg from an omelette trade negotiations, you gauge
that’s been stirred since 1973 –
A painful SEPARATION
difficult, frustrating and almost
certainly messy.
As someone who has been
in trade negotiations for more
than three decades, it is difficult the weight of a market – making
to overstate the technical and more concessions for a large
regulatory challenges that market than a small one.
Brexit poses – challenges that Exiting enough to satisfy
are further complicated by Brexit supporters, but not
political calculations. so much that it damages the
Take financial services. How British economy – that’s a
they’ll be regulated between the delicate compromise, and one
UK and EU is a key part of the that doesn’t appear to be on the
Brexit discussion, but I doubt table in London. It might take
will be part of any trade something akin to a political
negotiation. So even if a trade spasm in the UK before such a “more complicated,” he said. scenario that should keep CEOs
negotiation is reached – an compromise gains real traction. Neither metaphor is perfect, but awake at night on both sides of
ambitious goal in and of itself Rather than a decades-old at least the professor’s offers the the Channel.
– how banks can operate and omelette, a German professor hope of a smooth landing.
Pascal Lamy is a Principal at
firms will be regulated remains a equated the complexity of the A hard one, which Brunswick Geopolitical, and former
separate issue to be resolved and UK leaving the EU with the first unfortunately cannot be totally Director General of the World
then implemented. Moon landing – only Brexit was excluded at this stage, is the Trade Organization.
SWEARING
system that broke global banking,
but for bad language.
Despite the aversion to
Are curse words an swearing, evidence suggests it can
unforgivable scourge or a help teams bond. Far from artless
healthy way to build trust? and vulgar, research shows that
I
n her book swearing is good swearing in small groups demands
for You, Dr. Emma Byrne argues social skills to express differences
between teams and nuances ILLUSTRATIONS: LEFT, SERGE BLOCH; TOP, FABIO CONSOLI
that new research reveals how
we might be better off to invite specific to each member’s role.
profanity into the office. But In addition, Dr. Byrne’s
she’s also clear that trying to research shows swearing reflects
implement a pro-swearing policy on credibility: The greater the
will be an uphill battle. rate of swearing, the less likely the
Dr. Byrne tells how during person was to be dishonest.
the 2008 crash a Goldman Sachs Ultimately, there’s no simple
senior manager described a sub- answer. Though it risks giving
prime mortgage transaction in offense, it seems that at the right
an email as “one shitty deal.” moment, a well-turned expletive
When the emails were released can work wonders.
to the public, Goldman Sachs Laura Templer is Content
apologized – not for supporting a Production Manager in London.
10 b ru n s w i c k rev i ew · i s s u e 1 5 · 2 0 1 8
WORDS
INTRODUCTION
revival of Western economic prowess. And our researchers
at Brunswick Insight reveal what people really hear when a
company says, “No comment.”
We also show how even great writers like Winston
Churchill or Ernest Hemingway found it hard to choose
the right words. Churchill, winner of the Nobel Prize in
Welcome to the Words edition of the Brunswick Review, Literature, put one hour of work into every minute of a
in which we illustrate the power of words to promote speech. Hemingway rewrote the last page of “A Farewell
economic and social progress. to Arms” 47 times. The secret behind virtually every great
In these pages we trace Singapore’s status as an writer and speaker is a team of brilliant editors.
economic star to its decision in 1965 to make its official For anyone preparing a spoken or written
language English – even though few residents back then communication, a basic recommendation is to identify
spoke it. We show how one man started a linguistic the target audience. But Mark Palmer, Brunswick’s US
ILLUSTRATION: EDMON DE HARO
revolution by inventing the hashtag. We offer tips from Managing Partner, adds a chilling coda. It comes from his
former US Senator Christopher Dodd on how to prepare experience as the former spokesman for Enron: Never forget
and deliver a great speech. Cambridge’s best-selling that your audience may include the Department of Justice.
classicist Mary Beard talks to us about lingering restraints Best to lead by this credo: Words matter, always.
on the voices of professional women. Economist Dambisa
Moyo explains why words – her fourth book is currently
on best-seller lists – offer the best hope for starting a NEAL WOLIN, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICERO
n october 25, 2001, the phone rang on the desk of mark palmer,
MARK Vice President of Communications for Enron. The caller was a Wall
Street Journal reporter inquiring about an Enron special-purpose entity
called Chewco. • “Never heard of it,” said Mr. Palmer. Promising to look
into Chewco, he said he would get back to the reporter. • During his first
five years as Enron spokesman, Mr. Palmer had scrambled to accommodate ever-
mounting interview requests from journalists enthralled with the innovation,
the boldness and the incredible growth of Enron. During that time, the value of
Enron stock more than quadrupled to $90 a share. • But 2001 brought a series of
setbacks: Short sellers planted skepticism in the media, the company’s charismatic
CEO abruptly resigned and Enron took an unexpected $1.2 billion charge against
equity. The stock sank to below $20 a share. • As he set out to gather information
about Chewco, Mr. Palmer still believed
PALMER
in Enron’s capacity to recover. He still
believed in the leadership of Kenneth Lay,
the company’s long-time chairman who
had recently re-assumed the title of CEO.
As for Chewco, Mr. Palmer expected to
get a quick answer and move on to his
next task. • But within moments, he
learned from an Enron executive that
Chewco might be a deeply flawed entity.
Enron executives investigating the files
of Andy Fastow, the company’s recently
departed CFO, were finding that Fastow
might have improperly structured
Chewco to circumvent accounting rules
and enrich himself. If this suspicion were
true, Chewco’s obligations would turn
into Enron debt, further destabilizing
the company’s finances and destroying
what was left of its reputation. The news
floored Mr. Palmer. • Exercising an
authority that he arguably didn’t wield,
Mr. Palmer called for an immediate
gathering of top management, including
Mr. Lay. So distraught was he that on
the way to that meeting Mr. Palmer
FORMER ENRON SPOKESMAN ON TELLING THE TRUTH ILLUSTRATION: NIGEL BUCHANAN
12
MARK PALMER
made a detour to the bathroom to vomit, a delay During the company’s fall, Mr. Eichenwald
that cost him a seat at the meeting he had called. covered Enron for The New York Times. “Mark
So Mr. Palmer sat on the floor of a small crowded Palmer never even approached the line of being
conference room. During the meeting, when Mr. Lay deceptive to me or I think to any reporter,” says
failed to immediately grasp the Chewco implications, Mr. Eichenwald. While covering Enron for the
Mr. Palmer took charge by loudly slapping his hand Times, Mr. Eichenwald said that “If Mark told me
on the floor. “I’ll tell you what’s going on, Ken,” Mr. I was going down a wrong path with my reporting,
Palmer shouted at the Chairman and CEO. “The I would immediately stop. He had that kind of
AFTER Wall Street Journal knows more about what’s going credibility because, conversely, when I was right,
GOVERNMENT on at your company than you do!”
Then Mr. Palmer demanded, as he had before,
he never told me I was wrong. Mark understands
that credibility is something you have to build and
INVESTIGATORS that Enron hire an independent investigator. This that the only way to build it is by being honest. He’d
SWARMED ENRON, time Enron followed his advice.
Seventeen years later, Mr. Palmer serves as the
always do his best to get an answer and if the answer
was ugly he’d give it to you.”
MR. PALMER LAY US Managing Partner for Brunswick Group, where The Wall Street Journal’s Rebecca Smith and John
AWAKE NIGHTS he offers advice on a range of topics, most notably
how to navigate a corporate crisis. To that discussion
Emshwiller played a significant role in uncovering
Mr. Fastow’s secrets. In their 2003 book, 24 Days,
REPLAYING EVERY he brings a degree of firsthand experience that he they said they “didn’t think Palmer had ever
COMMUNICATION wouldn’t wish upon anyone. The son of a Vietnam
War Navy attack pilot, Mr. Palmer grew up believing
knowingly given them false information.” It seemed
obvious “that (Palmer) had been trying to be helpful
HE EVER ISSUED that hardship should be embraced, tackled and and honest.”
ON BEHALF OF internalized, rather than just talked about. But the
trial he endured as chief Enron spokesman during
A University of Missouri journalism graduate,
Mr. Palmer worked as a broadcast journalist before
THE COMPANY its spectacular rise and scandalous fall convinced joining Fina, an oil-and-gas company, as its all-
him that Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is a around spokesman and marketing guru. He was 35
real affliction. Ever since that episode of nausea in 1996 when a headhunter recruited him to Enron,
in the Enron bathroom, his gag reflex has been a natural-gas pipeline company that was disrupting
oversensitive. “Before Enron, I could have been a the industry by creating a market for trading natural
sword swallower. Ever since Enron, if I get just a little gas. This innovation not only was proving to be
bit stressed my gag reflex is hypersensitive,” he says. profitable but also good for consumers. “Enron
The lessons he gleaned from Enron underscore a had this idea of a gas bank, and it really improved
type of risk not always appreciated on the front lines the natural gas market in the US. It solved the
of corporate communications. After government problem of there being shortages in one market and
investigators swarmed Enron, Mr. Palmer lay awake surpluses in another,” says Mr. Palmer.
nights replaying every communication he ever issued Now, a brilliant Enron executive named Jeffrey
on behalf of the company, aware of the potentially Skilling – instrumental in the gas bank concept
criminal implications of a corporate spokesman – was pushing for deregulation of the electricity
knowingly saying anything wrong or misleading. market, an effort that required approval of both
Mr. Palmer passed that test, in the view of the federal and state regulators. “You had this patchwork
media as well as government investigators. quilt of crazy regulation where someone in Long
It’s not that every communication he ever made Island might be paying 22 cents a kilowatt-hour for
on behalf of the company was accurate. He says, “It’s power while someone in New Hampshire might be
awful to look back on statements that I made based paying 8. We felt like we could do the same thing
on getting an answer from (an Enron executive) and with electricity that we had done with natural gas –
having it end up being wrong.” It’s that the fraud even out supply and generally lower the price.”
at Enron was known to only a few of the energy As Enron’s stock rose steadily, Mr. Palmer and his
giant’s tens of thousands of employees. “If corporate team fielded an ever-growing number of interview
fraud weren’t limited to particular individuals requests initially from trade journalists, then from
with a particular level of power, then it wouldn’t the world’s top business publications. “We became
be a secret,” says Kurt Eichenwald, whose 700-page a Wall Street darling, and a media darling. That the
masterpiece on Enron, Conspiracy of Fools, conveys most innovative company in America was a former
the shock awaiting those at the company charged natural gas pipeline company – that was just a great
with investigating Mr. Fastow’s deals. story,” says Mr. Palmer.
14 b ru n s w i c k rev i ew · i s s u e 1 5 · 2 0 1 8
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
2015 2016 2017
Mark Palmer (bottom
right) and his much-
reduced staff following
the Enron bankruptcy in
December 2001. Their
good humor here belies
the difficult times they
were negotiating.
An admirer of both Mr. Skilling and Mr. Lay,
From $90 to $0
ENRON’S STOCK PRICE
and a believer in their mission, Mr. Palmer said he
from August 2000
to January 2002 “bought into the mission, and became like a lawyer Trust
more
who zealously defends his client.” 16%
As Enron became more a trading company than Unsure
an energy concern, its accounting grew increasingly 3%
complex, puzzling some analysts and investors.
$100 But Enron’s deals and books had the blessing of
90 white-shoe lawyers and a blue-chip accounting
80 firm, Arthur Anderson. Meanwhile, Enron’s critics
70 often had their own agendas, as short sellers or foes
60 of deregulation, and Mr. Palmer pushed back hard.
50
“As spokesperson, I zealously Management
communicatedBudget our Technolo
message,” he says.
40
“When you’re the spokesman of 36%a company70% 52%
30
whose success played out on the free and open
20
market, a company that’s the darling of WallCiteStreet
Of cybersecurity inadequate Of threat ale
10 and of the media, you develop aprofessionals
level funding for
of confidence are imprope
have a direct cybersecurity prioritized b
reporting technology systems an
0 that becomes arrogance,” he says.line “Looking back, it’s must
to the or security be manu
8.23.00 10.23.00 12.23.00 2.23.01 4.23.01 6.23.01 8.23.01 10.23.01 12.23.01 CEO talent reprioritize
shocking how full we were of ourselves.”
Visibility Investment Accurac
Data is compiled from Enron Securities Litigation Web Site The beginning of the end came in the spring
As short sellers became unexpected resignation when CFO Andrew Fastow
of 2001 when Fortune ran a story asking whether
suspicious about how of CEO Jeffrey Skilling in resigned under pressure Enron was overpriced. The story pointed out that
Enron made its profits, August of that year, shook one day after CEO Ken few analysts understood how Enron actually made
CHART: PETER HOEY
the stock of the much- investors, whose fears Lay expressed confidence money. The stock began to fall. In August, the stock
admired company seemed vindicated when in him. The end came
began to fall. A Fortune Enron took a $1.2 billion when lenders lost faith,
took a steep dive when Mr. Skilling, CEO only since
article in the spring of charge against equity ultimately forcing Enron February, resigned, citing personal reasons. Then
2001, followed by the in October. It didn't help into bankruptcy. The Wall Street Journal began questioning the
b ru n s w i c k rev i ew · i s s u e 1 5 · 2 0 1 8 15MARK PALMER
accounting behind certain limited partnerships set turned up ever-grimmer details about its slipshod
up by Mr. Fastow. financial structures and in many cases improper
40
“KEN, As the stock continued to slide, Mr. Palmer felt
responsible. Many of his superiors told him that
accounting, Mr. Lay kept exhorting Mr. Palmer to
somehow improve media coverage. That prompted
Enron was suffering only a perception problem, the financial team that had replaced Mr. Fastow
initiated by short sellers and perpetuated by to sit Mr. Palmer down and show him what they
journalists who did not understand the company’s had discovered to be the true state of affairs: The
complex accounting methods. company had little in the way of cash flow and the
When the WSJ persisted, raising questions value of its equity paled beside a potentially $40
about the limited partnerships, Mr. Palmer asked billion load of debt triggered by its falling stock
Mr. Fastow to provide an interview about them. price and lowered credit ratings. For Mr. Palmer,
BILLION DOLLARS Mr. Fastow refused, yelling on the phone that the that horrible news brought relief.
IN OBLIGATIONS idea was idiotic and questioning Mr. Palmer’s
competence as a spokesman. “Looking back, I realize
“I had thought this was my fault. I had thought
that all of our 401(k)s were going to zero because I
AND NO that Andy Fastow screaming at me should have been couldn’t convince the media that they were wrong,”
CASH FLOW IS A a tell-tale sign,” says Mr. Palmer. “I know that dogs
don’t bark because they’re going to bite you. They
he says. Later that evening when Mr. Lay again
beseeched Mr. Palmer to silence the WSJ, Mr. Palmer
PR PROBLEM, bark because they’re afraid.” replied, “Ken, $40 billion in obligations and no cash
BUT BAD PR To make matters worse, Mr. Palmer recalls,
Mr. Lay told him, “Mark, what are you doing to get
flow is a PR problem, but bad PR didn’t cause it and
good PR can’t fix it.” As Mr. Palmer puts it now, “You
DIDN'T CAUSE IT the Journal to quit writing these stories? They’re can’t spin your way out of trouble you acted your
AND GOOD killing us.”
Even as the SEC announced an investigation
way into.”
Enron’s falling stock price was creating havoc
PR CAN’T FIX IT” into Enron, and as the company’s own executives at a company that had heavily used its shares as
KURT EICHENWALD ON WRITING “CONSPIRACY OF FOOLS”
Enron’s demise inspired more than Every document and every
a dozen books. The best of them is description of an event from those
arguably the best business book records is then listed in a timeline,
ever written: Kurt Eichenwald’s which usually runs between 500
Conspiracy of Fools. Mr. and 1,000 pages long. Each entry
Eichenwald, who had covered Enron describes which document in
for The New York Times, describes which binder contains the cited
here his book-writing process. information and on which page.
His fifth book, A Mind Unraveled, But documents aren’t a story
will be published in October by – that comes from people who
Ballantine Books. experience the events. For each
In the 12th hour of our interview, of my books I have interviewed
the former Enron executive at least 100 people, often for an
described the morning he climbed exhausting number of hours. My
out of bed and drove to the office sessions with Ken Lay, the late
to face the unraveling of the energy Enron chairman, lasted more than
giant. Responding to my question, 70 hours. Then the information is
he said a digital alarm clock entered into the timeline, with each
awakened him. that reads like a novel, but interview subject listed under a
“What color were the clock’s the details that can simply be code name.
digits?” I asked. imagined by a fiction author Ultimately, I stitch all of the
He threw up his hands. “Why do all have to come from either an information in the timeline into
you need to know that?” interview or a document. a first draft that can run to 2,000
To portray the kind of visual The main story emerges pages. Once that is finished, I
image common in fiction, I often from hundreds of thousands of read it and often, for the first time,
have to ask questions that can documents I obtain. An assistant discover what the book is about.
seem absurdly detailed. What type I call “the document wrangler” Then I cut hundreds of pages to
of sandwich did you eat? In which places all of the records in produce a final product that is rich
pocket did you carry your wallet? chronological order, then sorts in detail, such as the color of alarm
My goal is to write nonfiction them into hundreds of binders. clock digits.
16 b ru n s w i c k rev i ew · i s s u e 1 5 · 2 0 1 8
Former Enron chairman
and CEO Ken Lay, center,
and his attorney Mike
Ramsey in 2006, about
to enter a courthouse in
Houston, Texas, for the
second day of a trial on
fraud and conspiracy
charges against Mr. Lay.
collateral, and rising doubts about the company’s accounting firm Arthur Anderson collapsed under
financial integrity prompted its trading partners to the weight of an Enron-related obstruction-of-
insist upon more and more onerous terms. Growing justice conviction that was reversed years after the
counterparty distrust of Enron and its CFO forced closing of the firm.
Mr. Lay to fire Mr. Fastow. Because that action came All the while, Mr. Palmer and his team continued
only a day after Mr. Lay had publicly expressed running the Enron communications department.
confidence in his CFO, the firing hardly calmed After Enron filed for bankruptcy protection in
nerves, inside or outside the company. late 2001, Mr. Palmer’s communications staff got
Then came the Wall Street Journal call asking Mr. slashed to seven from 27. Since August, that team
Palmer about a partnership called Chewco. It turned had handled the resignations of the CEO and
out that some of the structures Mr. Fastow and CFO, new president and CEO announcements,
his co-conspirators had set up were being used to Sept. 11-related announcements, a $1.2 billion-
disguise bad business decisions, create phony income charge against equity, news about Enron credit
and funnel money to Mr. Fastow and other cronies. crunches and now bankruptcy, among other
In the days, weeks and months that followed, big announcements. The remaining seven team
Enron filed for bankruptcy protection, Mr. Lay members worked around the clock often without
left both the board and then the company under going home, fielding as many as 400 calls a day.
pressure from creditors, Congress ran rote show Mr. Palmer slept on a boardroom couch while
hearings, and federal prosecutors investigated and another member of his team slept under her desk.
PHOTOGRAPH: DAVE EINSEL/GETTY IMAGES
then brought criminal charges against Messrs. He showered in the company gym and saw his wife,
Fastow, Skilling and Lay, in addition to dozens Cozy, when she arrived to bring him fresh clothes. In
of other Enron executives forced to plead guilty the last three months of that year, he lost 35 pounds.
to crimes rather than risk defending themselves. Recruited to take charge of Enron a month
How much Mr. Lay and Mr. Skilling knew about after its bankruptcy, turnaround specialist Steve
Mr. Fastow’s crimes remains unclear, but both had Cooper encountered “the most catastrophic, most
sold massive amounts of Enron stock ahead of the investigated, most chaotic scene you could imagine.
company’s downfall, leading to zero objectivity Enron was being investigated by virtually every
among potential jurors in the Houston area. The arm of the US government – the DOJ, SEC, FTC,
b ru n s w i c k rev i ew · i s s u e 1 5 · 2 0 1 8 17MARK PALMER
Department of Energy – and sued by dozens of in Vietnam, describe the ways he and his fellow
states’ attorneys general. It had all the elements that prisoners had stayed positive – by seeing how
attracted massive scrutiny by the press.” long they could stay conscious during torture, by
Fielding all that was Mr. Palmer. “He brought communicating with each other via a kind of Morse
order and thoughtfulness and transparency to what Code, by memorizing the name and capture date of
was a massive shitstorm,” says Mr. Cooper. every other prisoner, and honoring a system wherein
The psychological toll on Mr. Palmer and his staff the longest held would be the first released.
was tremendous. In a matter of weeks, the company In that way, Mr. Palmer turned the months-long
they represented had gone from admired to reviled. slog into a kind of contest. He began to pride himself
A typical experience for them was when Mr. Palmer on making sound decisions despite fatigue and
learned that his daughter’s high-school journalism anxiety. Long accustomed to feeling pressure from
teacher stood at the front of class and referred both his superiors and the media, he saw clearly now
to all Enron executives as “criminals.” For years what he had known all along, that his only duty was
accustomed to fielding requests from journalists to the truth, even if the truth was, “I don’t know.”
competing to write front-page features, the team Tackling one phone call at a time, one day at a time,
now faced a prosecutorial press that felt betrayed. he began to feel more than equal to the task. “In a
As requests for information intensified, Mr. crisis like that, what matters is mindset – somehow
Palmer and his team had little of it to give. Their maintaining a productive, positive mindset,” he says.
first priority was to avoid giving bad information, Recalling his insistence that the company hire an
which increasingly meant they had no information outside investigator, Mr. Palmer wishes he’d also
to give at all. At one point, Securities and Exchange demanded that it hire a psychological consultant
Commission Chairman Harvey Pitt became irate – ideally one with crisis expertise – to help his
when he read in a news story that Mr. Palmer staff and others at Enron headquarters through
declined to answer reporters’ questions on grounds the tumultuous weeks before and after Enron’s
that Enron was being investigated by the SEC. bankruptcy. “Companies in a crisis hire workout
“Harvey Pitt was furious, saying an SEC specialists, and they hire financial advisers, and all
investigation should never be used as an excuse for of that’s vital, but the mindset of those advisers
not telling the truth,” Mr. Palmer recalls. “But I wasn’t is action, action, action. That doesn’t address the
hiding the truth. We simply didn’t know the truth.” problem of shame and anxiety and fatigue in a
At times, Mr. Palmer wondered how long he and culture that used to feel proud, and wants to feel
his staff could go on. Issuing one bad bit of news proud again,” he says.
after another, amid a government investigation Mr. Palmer believes that a serious crisis can’t be
that would put all of their previous work under a managed according to any pre-conceived playbook.
spotlight, the communications staff was plagued But he believes it offers an enormous opportunity
by fatigue, depression and anxiety. It didn’t help for leaders to negotiate the unforeseen in a way that
that their retirement funds were stuffed with now- inspires and encourages employees, investors and
worthless Enron stock. the media. Never is a leader more closely watched or
Once, Mr. Palmer called his father to ask if he more widely heard than during a crisis, Mr. Palmer
should quit. His father, the stalwart Naval aviator notes, adding that what all stakeholders seek from
and former TWA captain, noted that no one was a leader at such moments is competence, diligence MARK PALMER
shooting at him. “My father said, ‘I think you’re and honesty, especially honesty. Brunswick’s US Managing
really good at what you do. If you stick it out, you’ll Mr. Palmer believes that his experience leading Partner, Mark Palmer
probably learn a lot. You’ll probably be even better.’” during crisis gave him extraordinary insight into leads the firm's Dallas
office. He has 30 years of
For Mr. Palmer, a turning point came one day how to avoid or limit such debacles, and the key global experience in
when his boss, Steve Kean, said, “You know what? At factor is honesty. Given the very human desire to corporate, crisis and
litigation, and financial
the end of the day, what we have to do is be proud please one’s boss, and given the boss’s very human
transactions. Previously,
of the way we conducted ourselves. We’ve got to be desire for positive reports, how can leaders create he was VP of corporate
able to tell our grandchildren that we did the right a culture where their workforce isn’t afraid to tell communications and
organizational
things.” Inherent in that thought was the promise even the most unpleasant truths? “I got my Ph.D. in effectiveness at Sysco
that this crisis would end. It wouldn’t last forever. that at Enron,” says Mr. Palmer. Corporation. From 1996 to
Nothing does. Mr. Palmer remembered listening 2004, he served as
kevin helliker is Editor-in-Chief of the Brunswick Enron’s managing director
to a former squadron-mate of his father’s, a man Review. He is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, who and senior vice president
who had spent seven years as a prisoner of war spent nearly three decades at The Wall Street Journal. of global communications.
18 b ru n s w i c k rev i ew · i s s u e 1 5 · 2 0 1 8
YES Comment L itigants entering a courtroom, where
their case will unfold before a judge or jury,
are often accompanied by armies of lawyers
wielding reams of briefs, boxes of exhibits,
and sophisticated legal arguments. But outside the
courtroom, these same litigants have traditionally
been armed with nothing more than a terse “no
comment.” (Research from Brunswick Insight, below,
shows what stakeholders think of that response.)
Certainly the stakes are high in both arenas. But
while thousands of hours go into preparing for the
outcome of a court case, the impact of that case on
reputation has historically been an afterthought – or
a matter on which litigants and their lawyers simply
put their heads in the sand.
Supporting a legal strategy with a communications
plan targeting key stakeholders helps create a
narrative that connects with them and frames the
issues in a way that makes the legal arguments
understandable, and perhaps even appealing.
Communications outside the courtroom can be
tricky, particularly when a company is fighting on
multiple fronts and anything said in one forum can
have implications in another. But time and again,
we’ve seen that litigants who prioritize the outside
world – with its echo chamber of 24-hour news and
digital, user-led discussions – better weather the
litigation storm.
ellen moskowitz, a Partner, leads Brunswick’s US
Litigation Practice. She is based in New York.
PERCENT
75
When a company say “no comment” means a company is
BRUNSWICK INSIGHT
59
says “no comment,” “more concerned with the bottom line
on what people actually than doing what’s right”
hear when you say
82
say “no comment” means a company
“NO COMMENT” knows that answering the question will
“damage the company’s reputation”
77
say “no comment” makes them
PERCENT of “trust a company less”
Americans hear
that company
73
say “no comment” means a
ILLUSTRATION: FRANZISKA BARCZYK
saying they don’t company is “deliberately trying to hide
have a legal This data was collected by brunswick
something”
insight in early March 2018 from a
leg to stand on, nationally representative survey of 715
59
US adults. Brunswick Insight provides
and are just critical-issues research for market-
say “no comment” means a
avoiding admitting moving decisions, and combines data-
driven counsel with an emphasis on
company “lacks strong leadership”
guilt in public research and analysis.
b ru n s w i c k rev i ew · i s s u e 1 5 · 2 0 1 8 19S
ince the start of his presidential
campaign in June 2015, President Trump
used apologetic language 20 times on Twitter.
Thirteen of his tweets (65 percent) included
terms that qualified the apology, like “if,” “however,”
or “on the other hand.” The President isn’t alone
in his approach. According to data analyzed by
our team, over a 30-day period in early 2018,
“sorry” or similarly apologetic words appeared
20.4 million times on Twitter – and in one out of
every five instances, “sorry” was followed, either
immediately or shortly afterward, by a single word
that completely undermined it: “but.”
Harriet Lerner, a best-selling author and clinical
psychologist at Columbia University, believes
there may be no worse word for apologizing. “‘But’
automatically cancels out an apology,” she wrote,
“and nearly always introduces a criticism or excuse.”
Its widespread use in tweeted apologies – more
than 4 million times in that 30-day span – may
explain why a Brunswick Insight survey found that
while 80 percent of Americans expect the CEO to
apologize for a company’s mistake, only 13 percent
#SorryNotSorry
contributed to actors being dropped from movies,
CEOs departing the C-suite and politicians resigning
their offices. Organizations endure, but often with a
different leader at the helm.
So what does a good apology on Twitter look like?
believe that apology is entirely genuine. Even though It may seem easy Platitudes and legal jargon suggest a tweet was
Twitter’s reach is small compared to its social for an executive written by a team rather than a leader, which makes
media peers (Twitter has 330 million active users; or company to audiences understandably skeptical. The passive voice
Facebook has 2.1 billion), the platform is designed
tweet “I’m sorry.” – “mistakes were made” – or qualifying the apology
for real-time conversation and is heavily weighted implies a leader is more interested in avoiding blame
What to say with
with influencers, policymakers and journalists, than fixing the problem. Plain writing, with a lot of
making it the channel of choice for most corporate
the remaining “I” and “me” pronouns, is a good place to start.
communications in the aftermath of a mistake. But 271 characters Words matter, but behavior and authenticity
with all of the trolls and traffic on Twitter, and with is the hard part. matter more. Like a good golf swing, there must be
companies mishandling apologies and still reporting Brunswick’s follow-through. In 2015, Taylor Swift announced a
strong earnings the following quarter, how much zack condry boycott of Apple Music over a one-month trial that
does a well-worded apology on Twitter really matter? and sparky neglected to compensate the artists for that time
Many of the benefits of a well-coordinated apology zivin report period. Eddy Cue, Apple’s SVP of Internet Software
seem obvious but difficult to quantify: a stronger and Services, responded quickly in two tweets: The
reputation, more credibility with stakeholders, or first said Apple would fix the problem, the second
preventing a bad situation from being much worse. was to Taylor Swift directly, saying “we hear you.”
sparky zivin, a Partner,
A 2015 study conducted by the Korea Advanced Taylor Swift ended her boycott and, at the time of
oversees Brunswick
Institute of Science and Technology found timely, Insight’s Washington, DC this article, is still with Apple Music.
ILLUSTRATION: MARK SMITH
well-worded apologies on Twitter “reduced the level group, which provides Ms. Lerner writes that any apology should look
critical issues research for
of negative sentiment” surrounding a mistake – market-moving decisions.
to convey: “Yeah, I get it; I screwed up. Your feelings
better than the alternative, but not exactly inspiring. zack condry is a Director make sense, and I’m taking this seriously.” That’s a
If large organizations seem to be able to weather on the digital team, and good template for executives to start with the next
also based in Washington,
an apologetic misstep, it’s often a different story DC. Additional reporting by time they need to tweet “I’m sorry.” Those two words
for individuals. Couched, toothless apologies have riley back, an Executive. matter, but what comes after makes all the difference.
20 b ru n s w i c k rev i ew · i s s u e 1 5 · 2 0 1 8
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