Preparing for "the Boo Moment"

Have you ever been in a silent room and have someone walk up behind you and say "boo!"? Perhaps you have even done that to someone else. I plead guilty on both accounts. A crisis often seems to appear in the same way: unexpected, unannounced and often times unwanted. Things seem to be going along smoothly when suddenly they are either in disarray or on the verge of being upended. It can be unsettling and disruptive, particularly if you are unprepared. This, of course, is not to be confused with being surprised. We may be surprised at holding a winning lottery ticket in our hands, for instance, but we knew there was a possibility of having the matching numbers the moment we purchased that ticket.

Despite conventional wisdom, interestingly, the arrival of a crisis is usually not as unexpected as it may seem. Evaluation after the fact often reveals definitive indicators that led to what I call "the boo moment" when we are caught off guard. One example is the terrible tragedy at Virginia Tech in 2007. Obviously, the shooting rampage of Seung-Hui Cho the morning of April 16 was a total surprise. After the fact, however, investigators uncovered disturbing facts about Cho that fellow students and others had noticed and that suggested this young man was a walking time bomb. Going back a bit further to September 11, 2001, investigations and research have revealed there were even strong indicators that such a crisis was not the surprise we first thought it to be. Most tragically, in both cases, those in the best positions to do so failed to act on the information before them.

One important role of communication is be the process by which dots are connected between what is and what can be; between what is and what might happen; and between what is and what can be done about it. I understand that many organizations, including the federal government, have professionals in-place that already so this sort of thing. This, of course, is good. But what is not good is when what they communicate to their superiors is ineffective or goes ignored because it is not communicated in a manner that generates the appropriate degree of attention. This remains an ongoing challenge, particularly when those in charge do not always uphold their part in the communication process by being active listeners. As we now know, such was the case in the months leading up to 9/11. Thus, the vital role that communication can and should play as a cautionary or preparatory act needs to be properly acknowledged.