crisis management
When Scars Become Art
The art of turning failure into success
February 13, 2007, JetBlue Airways was 8 years old yet still in the honeymoon period with its loyal customers. In every relationship, Valentine’s day is special. That year, February 14 truly tested their relationship.
That morning, a massive winter storm enveloped the New York area, including JetBlue’s hub: JFK airport. This triggered a ripple effect resulting in the cancelation of over a thousand flights in six days and seriously questioning the customer-centric reputation of the company.
At Stanford GSB’s Reputation Management class, Joel Peterson, Chairman of JetBlue Airways, took us back to 2007 to understand lessons learned from what became Jetblue’s greatest crisis and recovery.
As Joel Peterson was speaking, I pictured a piece of art that largely influenced my way of thinking; the Japanese art of Kintsugi. This art puts broken pottery pieces back together with melted gold — a metaphor for embracing flaws and turning a crisis into an opportunity to emerge stronger and more beautiful. It teaches that broken objects are not something to hide but to display with pride. The scars become precious and make the once broken unique and stronger.
3 strategies to turn a crisis into Kintsugi
1. Recover the value of your most precious currency: trust
Broken trust can be restored and Joel Peterson, who has been an advocate for the importance of trust, explained that it starts with a real apology; a simple but profound concept.
An apology is recognizing the impact and damage caused, embracing it, showing empathy, addressing it quickly, communicating transparently and making sure it won’t happen again.
What an apology is not is just saying I’m sorry (that’s an excuse) or worse — blaming something or someone else. If JetBlue had focused on explaining that the issue was the storm or any other external reason, it surely wouldn’t have restored trust.
2. Respond rather than react
Predicting an external shock is often impossible but being prepared for it is essential. Planning is essential for organizations, and we can recognize today, more than ever, the importance of building contingency plans to face black swan events.
As a Private Equity investor, every time I would evaluate an investment opportunity, I would plan for worst case scenarios, while making sure the management team budgeted for it, and the teams were trained and ready to act effectively. This doesn’t prevent shocks from happening but enables to transform “what if?” into “now what?”.
3. Do a post-mortem to learn and grow
Once the storm passes, it is time to look back and consider: what did and didn’t go well and why? Which lessons should be learned? Which actions should be taken to prevent the same mistakes from happening and to build a stronger organization?
The ultimate test
A simple way to tell if you handled the reputational crisis well is to answer the following: Is it the gold that holds pieces together or is it a stain on your reputation?
