As I continue to plow through back issues of the New Yorker (I’m up to February 2023 for those keeping score at home), every once in a while I find an article or quote that seems pertinent to my work life. In the January 16, 2023 issue, this piece of genius lives in the upper right hand corner of page 45.

Besides making me literally laugh out loud, the cartoon reminded me of the sometimes misguided priorities I’ve seen from companies or organizations facing a crisis. They might worry more about how the public will react than how to deal with their problem. I’ve seen this most often in “HR crises” – poor judgements or actions by employees. Managers are sometimes loath to get into the nitty-gritty of what happened and take the appropriate action.

When the fire alarm blares, the first thing to do is get out the building. In a crisis, the first thing to do is actively deal with the crisis, while working on your communications.

I’m usually brought in to a crisis after the initial stages of the response. More often than not, my client has already started dealing with the security or safety issue, has started an investigation into what their employee or vendor did wrong, or started taking appropriate actions to handle the problem. But I have also seen leadership be so worried about what they are going to say, and how they are going to say it, that actually dealing with the crisis gets put on the back burner for a little while.

I’m not saying comms should be the last consideration in a crisis – quite the opposite. Communications must work hand-in-hand with upper management, operations, HR, legal, governmental relations, and any other party who’s input and output is critical to handling the situation, as soon as feasible. But as important as crisis communication is, it’s all moot if you don’t solve the problem. The best statements cannot overcome the image of your factory fully ablaze and polluting the air above the closest daycare center.

Every statement in the first stages of a crisis must include what the current situation is and what you are doing about it, without speculation. It can also include what you want people to do (e.g., avoid the area, call us if you saw anything, return the product to where you bought it), and gratitude for outsiders who are helping you. In a way, without the humorous implication above, this is “getting your story straight.”

In a crisis, actions and words go hand in hand. Once the public learns you’ve had a problem, they need to know what you are doing about it. The proper actions, married to the proper messages, can save an organization’s reputation when someone pulls the fire alarm.