Foreseeability.
My very smart attorney father-in-law, the late Donald F. Connors, taught me about avoiding crisis by simply looking down the road and asking yourself, “If I do this, will it lead me to where I want to go?” If not, Dad would say, “Don’t go there.”
Letterman and the CBS News 48 Hour producer.
Letterman’s got the platform and megaphone.
The producer has an attorney and some money problems.
Now the PR, crisis and reputational professionals will make some dough, the media is left to talking heads like me to fill space and hopefully shed some light on what looks like a typical case of extortion, and the general public is left to choose sides.
Yet I know, as do all my colleagues in crisis and reputation management, nothing is ever as it appears, and it’s going to take a while before the truth, or a close proximity, becomes clear.
Still, I’ll bet if David Letterman and Robert “Joe” Halderman had practiced foreseeability, they wouldn’t be in the middle of the reputational issue of their lives.
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You had a very smart father-in-law. But isn't it amazing how often people step in it even if they ask themselves that question? Do they think they're immune or do they have poor impulse control? You don't have to be famous to think you won't get caught. What basic human impulse/instinct is at play in these situations?
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