I’ve recently noticed a rash of situations where something untoward or inappropriate happens and the reaction of the individual responsible is to say, ” But my intentions were good. I didn’t mean for that to happen.”
It’s become part of the fabric of our society that people apologize for their behavior, almost as part of a ritual cleansing process, and then expect us to go on as if the incident had not really happened. We see this with celebrities, athletes, and businesses, as well as individuals we encounter in our daily lives.
It’s good to know that there was no malice or premeditation present, but the bottom line is what’s happened has happened. There’s a reason they call a close encounter between two vehicles an accident–it’s highly unlikely that either of the parties collided with the other on purpose. But the bottom line is we can’t unwind the clock or backup the tape and rerun it, whether we’re talking about a collision, the inappropriate behavior of a public figure (which is becoming more and more common), or simply a coworker or business partner who didn’t come through with their commitments.
Saying I’m sorry isn’t a bad place to start, but the next step has to be how do you fix the situation. What do you do to make things right? There may be legal consequences or moral ones, but in the long run there’s a relationship that’s been hurt, a level of trust that’s been damaged.
I fully believe that the last thing Toyota ever intended was for any of their vehicles to accelerate uncontrollably. Outside of replicating the exploding Pinto, I can’t think of something that a car manufacturer would dread more. Now that this happened, what steps will Toyota take to repair the actuality–the situation they’re in, regardless of how they got there. Will they argue about their intent, or will they do what’s right to make their customers and the public in general feel as comfortable as possible?
How does your business handle these situations? Are you prepared with more than a mea culpa? Do you have a team that’s ready to step in and do what needs to happen to mitigate a bad mistake, even if you can’t make it as good as new? Or is this something you’ve been meaning to do, and have good intentions to take care of, but somehow you haven’t gotten there yet…
