Some time ago, a few of us were talking about new cars in the market when the conversation veered towards Volkswagen and how they had been caught intentionally adding software that was designed to prevent them getting caught from emissions standards that were over the normal. It was surprising that this was the very first time that an auto company had been caught for something that they had done very intentionally, and the EPA caught up with them.
It made me think of the various infringements of companies these days. Jeffrey Liker, in an article for Harvard Business Review, chronicles the fate of these companies. First, Toyota – a highly respected and revered company, accused of selling cars with unintended acceleration problems that led to quite a few serious injuries. Toyota put it down to faulty and mismatched mats that were causing the problem. They didn't take it seriously for a long time hoping the storm would pass. It didn't, and they ended up with a $1.2 billion settlement.
Then, General Motors had a faulty ignition switch that led to 124 deaths and 274 injured over a span of 10 years. They too, didn't take it very seriously and finally paid up $900 million as an out-of-court settlement with the Department of Justice.
It made me think! How do companies bounce back from such a place of lost credibility? How do they regain the customers' goodwill on which a lot of sales depend? Do they minimize it and hope that it will pass? Or do they come clean and say, "We made a mess and we need to rectify it and do everything that is necessary"?
It took me back to the days when Tylenol had a problem and they found out that cyanide had been put into the capsules in Chicago and it led to nine deaths. How quickly they handled the situation while responding with such honesty, candour and responsibility. They apologized to the public, took Tylenol off the shelves, admitted responsibility, and came back with tamper-proof bottles that re-instated the public's faith in J & J as a good, ethically sound company.
So, how should companies handle these situations? What happens in the aftermath? There's a nice article called 'The Organizational Apology'. In it, the author says that basically one needs to ask the questions: who, what, where, when and how, and make sure that the apology sits right in those areas.
1. Who apologizes? Who is the one who stands up and says, "We made a mistake, and we're sorry." We need to make sure that it has to be a senior leader who does that.
2. What is the substance of the apology? They go on to say that there are 3 things that you must have: candor, remorse and a commitment to change.
3. Where - what kind of coverage must that apology have? Wide coverage, or wide enough to cover all the places where the mistake has had an impact.
4. When should an apology be made? The key here is to make it quickly. "Speed equals sincerity" as the authors say.
5. How should the apology be made? In person, through a letter, or through social media and with great empathy.
That's the corporate end of the talk. But I also think that sometimes we can make those mistakes that hurt people, and because we don't really take it seriously, or we have more power than the people with whom wrong has been done, that apologies are withheld. For example, it can happen in the family, to a spouse, or to children, or to colleagues around us who may be in a lower position than we are. Sometimes it's difficult to really say, "I need to apologize to these people," because they can't really do anything to you.
Yet, the question is not about whether they can or cannot. But the question is whether it is the right thing to do. If hurt has been perpetrated, if something wrong has been done, then an apology is warranted. Maybe today is a day that you look at somebody who is hurting. Maybe it's in your own family, or your circle of friends. It's something that you did wrong, but you haven't apologized for. Could it be that today is the day that you say, "I did wrong, and I apologize,"? My hope is that you will.
But, there's another aspect that I think we need to understand. In the wrongs that we do, we do wrong even to the Almighty God who has placed us in these positions and trusted us with the responsibilities that we have. We owe God an apology too. We need to say that we are sorry that we took advantage of a situation that He has given us. But it also comes with good news. Our Scriptures say, "If we confess our wrong-doing, then God is faithful and just, and will forgive us for these wrong-doings, and will cleanse us and make us clean again, and take away any unrighteous in us." That is good news for me because it takes away the guilt as well. It's a wonderful thing!
A word for us today! We may not do things on the scale of General Motors or Volkswagen or Toyota, but in our day-to-day life, when we mess up, let's make sure that we take responsibility and apologize. Do it sincerely, both to the people whom we may have wronged, and to God who gave us the responsibility, and then only, move on.
May I offer this prayer on our behalf? Almighty God, bless each one of us who reads this post. Give us the wisdom to say the right thing at the right time, for some of the wrong things that we might have done. We pray that you would lead and guide us, and accept our voices of apology both to people and to you. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.
• Jeffery Liker, "Assessing the Sins of Volkswagen, Toyota and General Motors," https://hbr.org/2015/09/assessing-the-sins-of-volkswagen-toyota-and-general-motors
• Maurice E. Schweitzer, Alison Wood Brooks & Adam D. Galinsky, "The Organizational Apology." https://hbr.org/2015/09/the-organizational-apology
• Scripture reference: 1 John 1:9 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20John%201:9&version=TLB
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