Imagine you and I are looking down into a room and we see someone bonking into the walls trying to get out. You see there is only one way out–through the door. And you think they would know that too because bonking hurts. Sometimes it knocks the person down, but they get back up and bonk into another wall. And another. And another. Sometimes they get close to the door, but then they turn and bonk into another wall.
The room has windows and with onlookers. Applying the decoder ring,
- The person is someone in a crisis communications situation;
- The door represents truth. (It’s the only way out.)
- The room represents the mire the person has fallen into; and
- Onlookers are reporters, whose job is to report what they see, hear, learn, etc.
If we apply this analogy to Colin Powell’s hacked email situation, there IS a way out. And the sooner the better, I would advise, especially for Powell, who has the respect of the country and many world leaders.
Part of the answer is admission, full admission. An explanation. Some context. Perhaps an apology, if warranted, but also a statement to explain his sentiment, which he has a full right to have.
The next step includes giving reporters no where to dig (the full admission part). Other steps can be found here.
The alternative is more bonking. Painful.