When bad things happen

Professor Sir David Omand is a former senior UK civil servant with a distinguished record of public service. He has spent a lifetime preparing for the worse and has now distilled that knowledge into his recently published book, “How to survive a crisis: lessons in resilience and avoiding disaster.”

This is an indispensable guide not just for politicians but at all levels of corporate life.

Sir David has decades of experience dealing with the worst situations possible, providing sane and sensible advice at moments of crisis. He divides them into two categories: sudden impact and slow burn. Yet he recognises that all too often we all suffer from the paradox of prevention. Government and business remain reluctant to invest in resilience until it is far too late, and the crisis is already upon them.    

This is a book that gets better the more times you read it. There are powerful insights into the War in Ukraine and the vital lessons to be learnt in the aftermath of the COVID pandemic.

The recent floods in Spain and the trail of destruction across Florida only serve to highlight our increasing vulnerability to the impact of climate change. The book also contains essential advice for governments and businesses everywhere on how to do more to counter the threat of cyber- terrorism.

Sir David’s career was stellar. He was the permanent secretary at the Home Office, as well as Head of GCHQ. His role as Permanent Secretary at the Cabinet office meant he played a seminal role in developing the COBRA, emergency response committee of senior officials and politicians which has become such a staple of TV shows, dealing with disasters of every stripe and shape.   

So how do you minimise damage to reputation in a crisis? It’s simple. Say sorry and use common sense. Tell the truth from the outset and deliver on your promises.

Sir David uses as a case study how oil major BP mishandled the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon explosion which took place on a US exploration platform in April 2010. It left 11 people dead and was the cause of a major environmental disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.  

BP’s many communication mistakes contributed to the company losing a quarter of its market value. Sir David’s view is that a reputation is earned in advance of need. He highlights BP’s failure to deal adequately with the public response to the 2005 Texas City Refinery fire and the 2006 Alaska oil spill.

As Head of Business at Sky News at the time, I saw at first-hand how BP’s response to the Deepwater Horizon explosion created negative headlines and direct criticism from President Obama.

Sky News cameras filmed the BP CEO Tony Hayward looking relaxed and laughing chatting to colleagues at the crisis response centre. In a media interview he told the media that “he wanted his life back.” BP Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg after meeting the US President at the White House told waiting US reporters that BP “cared about the little people.”

The book’s central argument is that you don’t get to dictate the course of events, yet the decision on what happens next is yours. That’s why when bad things happen planning and preparation sits at the core of an effective and timely corporate response to crisis.

The next time you find yourself in trouble, please remember to reach for this book. It will repay your reading a thousand-fold.