One crucial thing that you don't get back in a crisis is time. After two crashes on its 737 Max 8 aircraft that killed everyone on board — just months apart — Boeing has lost a lot of time, and it can't afford to waste any more.
For days, Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg's most visible action was a reported call to President Trump to vouch for the plane's safety. This drove rampant speculation that he was trying to forestall government action, which he ultimately failed to do. And the company's lobbying activity and $1 million donation to Trump's inaugural committee certainly hasn't helped quell that speculation. If nothing else, the company and its executives look obsessed with their short-term business interests. It may be too late for Boeing to be the hero in this story, though it can counter its depiction as villain.
Boeing must be more proactive than reactive if it hopes to recapture public trust and rebuild brand value. Its move to develop a software patch and support pilot training on the new systems are good steps, but there's more the company can do.
Remember timing matters
Boeing made serious timing missteps. It was not until March 18 — eight days after the Ethiopian Airlines crash — that Muilenburg embraced the emotional weight of the unfolding events in a video statement. It was excellent in its sentiment. However, it was late, coming five days after Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly released a compassionate video. Boeing should have been first, not last, to the table.
Of course, company lawyers worry about what the company and its executives say or do in the days following a crisis. They will have to deal with the inevitable litigation and investigations in which this all becomes evidence. However, in limiting itself to dry statements for several days, Boeing created an "empathy gap" where it appeared cold and uncaring rather than acknowledging the pain, uncertainty and concern felt by the loved ones of those who died in the two crashes.
The most important steps to take now are to listen and thoughtfully respond. It is time for dialogue, not monologue. Listen to the families. Listen to the pilots. Boeing has invited pilots and regulators to briefings. Beyond that, it must respond with tangible actions that reflect the concerns of those stakeholders and help to prevent similar incidents in the future.
Focus on the company's future reputation
Reputation is a long-term consideration. Boeing's once unblemished reputation — which it spent years building — has been shattered. Passengers who may have given little attention to the make and model of an aircraft will now look much more closely, and each action Boeing takes today will affect how people view the company for years to come.
The best guide is former Johnson & Johnson CEO James Burke's response to the Tylenol poisonings in 1982. When three people died in the Chicago area after taking Tylenol, Burke shaped the company's future with a nationwide recall of the product. He went big and moved fast with the company's response, putting consumer confidence above short-term sales. Burke's efforts became an enduring exemplar of crisis response by a CEO.
Muilenburg needs to focus on the future. He must emphasize transparency, humility and authenticity. He must demonstrate to every stakeholder that the company is — and will be — fully trustworthy. He must prove that nothing will keep him from making things right. That starts with more listening, this time to employees.
We assume that no one at Boeing willfully put passenger safety at risk. Yet forces, perhaps competitive pressures, may have caused some to underestimate risk and overestimate the robustness of internal controls. The answers are inside the company, and Boeing's reputation will need to be rebuilt from the inside-out. The company must regain confidence in itself through relentless root cause analysis. If it hasn't done so already, it should gather all of its employees together and have a brutally honest conversation about how decisions were made that led to this outcome.
Reverse engineer what will be
Muilenburg should assign teams to rapidly work through two scenarios: Best case, it is 2025 and Boeing is the most trusted name in aviation. Worst case, it's 2025 and Boeing is out of business. The teams should then work backwards to March 2019 to trace the steps that led to each outcome. Facing such stark and divergent futures will illuminate strategic and tactical choices to be made today — and in the weeks and months ahead. It is better to stare into the abyss than to step into it blindly.
Of course, if Boeing did not act in good faith in deploying the 737 Max and the Justice Department's investigation discovers Boeing cut corners or attempted to avoid proper regulatory reviews of the modifications to the aircraft, Muilenburg and any other executives involved should resign immediately. Too many families, indeed communities, depend on the continued viability of Boeing. As the leader of a company, you have to put the organization's mission and welfare above your self-interest. That's what you sign up for.
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