Reviewer: Connolly Walker
In his book, Damage Control: The Essential Lessons of Crisis Management, Eric Dezenhall defines and explains the inner workings of crisis management including the good, the bad and the ugly. Dezenhall defines crisis management many times throughout the book, but often he refers to it as “the enterprise of telling ugly truths,” and making “bad situations less bad.” In the introduction, Dezenhall states that the mission of the book is to “impart the basic ‘facts of life’ about modern crisis management- what works, what doesn’t and why.”
One important structural aspect of the book was how Dezenhall actively separated public relations from crisis management. This struck me as different because I have always thought the two practices were intertwined. However, he proclaims that he practices the political model of crisis management which “assumes the threat of the adversary,” whereas the public relations model “tends to view crises as organic and resolvable through good communication.” As a result, Dezenhall sets up his strategies as offensive and defensive strategies, and the players are the crisis management team battling the opponent, such as the plaintiff’s lawyers and the news media, is in the other.
Throughout the book, Dezenhall does an excellent job of explaining certain crisis management strategies and then providing real-life examples to showcase the strategies. These real world examples are essential to understanding why various crisis management techniques work in certain situations and why the techniques may not work in others. It also makes the book more relatable since the audience may have prior experience with referenced cases. Furthermore, Denzenhall includes personal experiences and stories which add to the book because he explains closed-door deliberations and justifies why a particular strategy was used and also explains why the strategy did not work.
Examples of crisis management strategies that Dezenhall touches on include media relations, dissuasion, the second act theory and redemption, offensive techniques, and apologia theory. One chapter interesting chapter was titled “Know When to Fold Them,” in which Dezenhall explains that it is best to know when to leave the fight. In theory, one would hope every crisis manager can solve the problem, but Dezenhall believes that sometimes solving the problem means you have to “execute a strategic retreat.”
Overall the book did a great job of illustrating various crisis management strategies that any student studying crisis communication/management would want to explore. What makes the book a helpful student aid is the examples Dezenhall uses as case studies. Though Dezenhall touches on crisis management in regards to YouTube and WikiLeaks, the book lacks a conversation about social media’s role in crisis management and communication. However, this could be a result of the 2011 printing where platforms such as Twitter were not extremely popular yet. Even so, this book is highly recommended for crisis communication students because of the essential strategies that would be of use in any crisis management position.
Connolly Walker
In his book, Damage Control: The Essential Lessons of Crisis Management, Eric Dezenhall defines and explains the inner workings of crisis management including the good, the bad and the ugly. Dezenhall defines crisis management many times throughout the book, but often he refers to it as “the enterprise of telling ugly truths,” and making “bad situations less bad.” In the introduction, Dezenhall states that the mission of the book is to “impart the basic ‘facts of life’ about modern crisis management- what works, what doesn’t and why.”
One important structural aspect of the book was how Dezenhall actively separated public relations from crisis management. This struck me as different because I have always thought the two practices were intertwined. However, he proclaims that he practices the political model of crisis management which “assumes the threat of the adversary,” whereas the public relations model “tends to view crises as organic and resolvable through good communication.” As a result, Dezenhall sets up his strategies as offensive and defensive strategies, and the players are the crisis management team battling the opponent, such as the plaintiff’s lawyers and the news media, is in the other.
Throughout the book, Dezenhall does an excellent job of explaining certain crisis management strategies and then providing real-life examples to showcase the strategies. These real world examples are essential to understanding why various crisis management techniques work in certain situations and why the techniques may not work in others. It also makes the book more relatable since the audience may have prior experience with referenced cases. Furthermore, Denzenhall includes personal experiences and stories which add to the book because he explains closed-door deliberations and justifies why a particular strategy was used and also explains why the strategy did not work.
Examples of crisis management strategies that Dezenhall touches on include media relations, dissuasion, the second act theory and redemption, offensive techniques, and apologia theory. One chapter interesting chapter was titled “Know When to Fold Them,” in which Dezenhall explains that it is best to know when to leave the fight. In theory, one would hope every crisis manager can solve the problem, but Dezenhall believes that sometimes solving the problem means you have to “execute a strategic retreat.”
Overall the book did a great job of illustrating various crisis management strategies that any student studying crisis communication/management would want to explore. What makes the book a helpful student aid is the examples Dezenhall uses as case studies. Though Dezenhall touches on crisis management in regards to YouTube and WikiLeaks, the book lacks a conversation about social media’s role in crisis management and communication. However, this could be a result of the 2011 printing where platforms such as Twitter were not extremely popular yet. Even so, this book is highly recommended for crisis communication students because of the essential strategies that would be of use in any crisis management position.
Connolly Walker