Comments

Absolutely! The CEO of a company I worked with had a sexual indiscretion - actually a black-mail set-up that was videotaped! If he had made a quick apology and undertaken some therapy sessions it would have blown over. But he lied about it, and it made the "reality" TV shows ... the company never recovered.

Posted by Mike L at June 6, 2006 5:24 PM

Problems problems as Elvis Costello would say - Martha's problem too was trusting a friend who ratted her out - like Jose Canseco ratting baseball stars.

Enron guys were victims of extremely poor counsel perhaps - never take the witness stand.

Clinton's impeachment could have been avoided - had he said "I was an idiot for banging an intern on government time and property - beg forgiveness".

Posted by Sean at June 7, 2006 10:30 AM

In many years dealing with patient’s complaints in healthcare my experience is that patients often want someone to say sorry. That is not to say we accept poor performance in healthcare - quite the opposite in fact - but saying sorry is not really so hard is it?

Elton John sings 'Sorry seems to be the Hardest Word' If someone just comes up front with an apology and says ‘I was wrong, out of order and I have learned from this’ it is amazing how forgiving we fellow humans are – thank God.

Posted by Trevor Gay at June 8, 2006 4:52 AM

I'm amazed sometimes at the lengths to which companies will go to avoid saying "Sorry." A case in point: last fall I was house-sitting for relatives while they took a cruise on a Royal Caribbean ship. I had a domestic emergency and tried to call them at the number provided by the travel agency. I made 4 calls: 3 didn't go through and the fourth did, but it was misdirected by the ship's operator, so I never reached my relatives. My credit card was charged for all 4 calls. When I called the ship-to-shore phone company, they cheerfully refunded the 3 calls that didn't go through. They were willing to refund the fourth too, but I said that it wasn't their fault (the call did reach the ship) and I'd ask for a refund from the cruise company.

I have been unfailingly polite in all my interactions with Royal Caribbean, but they have been giving me the runaround for nearly EIGHT MONTHS: not returning phone calls, claiming that they never got my faxes, and finally, when I sent a snailmail with loads of documentation, sending me a snippish letter (on highly expensive stationery) informing me that they had no record of the call and implying that I was trying to pull a fast one. So I contacted a cruise line association that they belong to, who were very helpful. But when I re-sent (yet again) all the information that the cruise line asked for, I had no response whatsoever. Needless to say, I am NOT a promoter of Royal Caribbean.

The irony is that the call cost about $24, and I'm sure that they've spent far more than that in personnel time to tell me "no" -- not to mention that fancy stationery.

Posted by Paula at June 8, 2006 10:21 AM

Sorry implies guilt (Royal Caribbean). Their guilt provides plaintiff's attorneys with a huge window to blow through for frivilous lawsuits by idiot plaintiffs...and of course victories awarded to them by idiot judges (sidebar - who feel it's okay to give a sex-offender probation). Said lawsuits are prompted often times (not counting legitimate exceptions) by people who believe that everyone owes them something ($1M for spilling hot coffee on yourself - paid by McDonald's). Those people are generally very discontent people. Discontentment can be traced back in many cases to a not-so-stellar upbringing (bad parenting). (sorry for the soapbox - I feel like Sean right now - no disrespect meant, dude.) :)

Here's a thought. Raise your children right (apologize when you make a mistake and teach them to do the same - as children model what they see), and frivilous lawsuits are less likely to happen. Then companies might be a little more inclined to say they're sorry, we made a mistake.

Or, a great blog like this just might be enough to encourage some CEO to grow some balls and stand up for what he knows is right - and apologize for something.

Posted by tango5 at June 9, 2006 8:10 AM

Greene's Axiom # 1 - The problem is never the problem. We need to ask why at least 5 times to get even close to the real answer. Kids do this all the time until parents tell them to shut-up and stop asking so many questions. So we adults end up being satisfied with just the what and how and forget that before any quest is embarked upon we should first why. Our government should try this once in awhile. We might actually discover some corporate purpose for our country. I can think of a lot of thing we may wish to become. I wonder why our leaders never ask why.

Posted by Rich Greene at June 11, 2006 10:40 AM

I disagree with tango5: A company that says "Sorry," and provides appropriate compensation to the customer, is FAR less likely to get sued. Most dissatisfied customers aren't lawsuit-happy freeloaders; they just want their immediate problem solved. But the longer the problem goes on, and the more stubbornly the company refuses to deal with it, the madder the customer will get -- and thus the likelier they are to sue.

I agree that, in some situations (e.g., malpractice insurance), the system is rigged in the direction of "Never admit guilt." But if a company's legal counsel can't craft a letter that says "Sorry" without admitting more than they absolutely have to, the company needs new lawyers.

Posted by Paula at June 12, 2006 12:52 PM

Pardon my David Letterman inspired "Brush With Greatness" bit to frame this post ...

I had the distinct 'honor' to be on the receiving end of a telephone rant of Tom Peters early in my business life (April 1985) after one of his few, very few I'm sure, home-cooked meals was disrupted by an automated telemarketing device promoting a carpet shampoo service (demo) by a local Electrolux salesperson.

Although I was in my Chicago office (conducting after-hours interviewing) at 8:30 p.m.; I was treated to a tirade that still gives me goosebumps and raises the hair on the back of my neck! When asked if I knew who I was speaking to, I replied in the affirmative and asked for his home phone number so I could investigate the nature of his complaint and follow up with him. I was surprised that he gave it to me; but more surprised by the responses I received from Electrolux brass up the chain of command.

Their collective view was alarmingly dismissive of the action-potential found in "the pen is mightier than the sword" belief I had. Overwhelmingly, I was told not to pay any mind to someone who tells the world that changing with the times is the only way to survive while reaming a company for embracing the technology to do just that.

Having grown up in an Electrolux home (my father sold them for 37 years to supplement his income as a firefighter) and learned that sales is a people business - regardless of product or service - I was conflicted by the paradox of the business realm. More importantly, though, I was completely turned off by the collective "up yours" mentality communicated by Electrolux's field leadership.

I've always wondered how that supper-interrupting phone call impacted TP. Let's face it, if you're motivated enough to search out the corporate office phone number to immediately voice your displeasure ... it was beyond annoying.

Twenty-one years later and I'm still wondering.

Posted by Tom LeClair at June 13, 2006 11:40 AM