The conclusion of ‘No Comment’ is that an organization does not determine what a crisis is, but the outside world does this for it.
Authors: Hugo Marynissen, Stijn Pieters, Sofie Van Dorpe, Anne-Marie van het Erve, Frank Vergeer
In an era of the internet, this is indeed the case. Every citizen has become a journalist, and many are eager for communication. In doing so, they utilize all the tools available, such as Facebook, Hyves, Twitter, …
It seems an insurmountable obstacle to use communication to still manage a crisis. Yet, this is not the case. The book offers a plethora of tips and knowledge to take and keep the initiative. A number of highlights in the book indicate this.
First highlight
Right at the beginning of the book ‘No Comment’, are the words “Rangi” and “CRM” (Crew Resource Management) where, in an ideal democracy, legitimate comments on a process or project can be made. The first is for creating good documents, the second for enriching each other with insights about the ongoing process or project. The success rates increase phenomenally as a result. In my opinion, this ideal flourishes in network organizations, where cross-pollination can be optimal.
Second highlight
The idea of using empathy in communication. This is normally a human aspect, but here too, ‘practice makes perfect’. Preparation and training are, therefore, a must. It is important to practice looking from the outside in.
Final highlight
‘No Comment’ then continues, and one of the next highlights is the importance of good relationships. Towards the end of the book, it turns out that relationship-building is actually more important than reputation-building, although good relationships do help in achieving a good reputation. The ultimate example here is the story of General Motors.
Here I will stop with the highlights. It is important for people involved in crisis management to know that this book is based on the cross-fertilization between different sciences. Unfortunately, there is no chapter on aftercare, as they themselves indicate. For this, knowledge of psychosocial care, medical care combined with communication is required. For this, the authors might collaborate with someone like Erik De Soir, author of the book ‘A Very Small Bit of War’, in a future version of the book.