Is a kiss really just a kiss?

Perhaps the most fundamental “must-do” for any profession is to define what it is and what it does. Sounds pretty simple, doesn’t it? Well, public relations has struggled with this for the better part of a century and still can’t agree on a common definition. Recently, the Public Relations Society of America invited its members and others to develop once again an updated definition of the business.

As part of my involvement as a presenter at the 2012 PRSA Western District Conference next week, I was asked to submit an answer for the same question, “What is PR?” Here’s my $0.02.

_______________________________________________________________

What is PR?

“So, what is it exactly that you do?”

How many times has each of us heard that after we’ve said “I work in public relations”? Far too many to count, I am sure. In fact, I actually gave up trying to answer that question from my parents. To their last days on this earth, I don’t think they ever quite understood my chosen career.

I know, I know. I should have followed my mother’s advice and become a doctor or a lawyer. I actually started college in pre-med before flaming out in a human anatomy course as a sophomore. Grade-wise, I did okay, but it was in that class I learned I would have to do an autopsy in medical school. An autopsy?? Uhhh, no. I just couldn’t stomach the thought of that. So when communication studies came along in my second year, I thought “Whoo-hoo! I’ve got it made!” Little did I know taking a scalpel to flesh quite possibly may have been the easier road. At the very least, my folks could have bragged about their son, the doctor, at dinner parties (“My son, the public relations consultant” never quite had the same ring…).

So what exactly is public relations?

After PRSA’s recent attempt to update the definition of PR for a world filled with the likes of Twitter, Vimeo and Pinterest (not to mention the Zuckernaut we call Facebook), the answer has become painfully obvious.

We don’t know.

Yep. That’s right. We haven’t a friggin’ clue. Thanks to a most excellent public relations program by PRSA that landed this initiative on the pages of The New York Times, most of Western civilization now knows our dirty little secret. We earn our living helping others tell their stories more effectively, but we suck at doing it for ourselves. And even if we could agree on a definition for PR, it’s likely we’d disagree on how to punctuate it. Our profession has so many components and such a wide diversity of practice areas, trying to define it is like “nailing Jell-O to a wall,” to quote my good friend, Mike Herman, APR, Fellow PRSA.

Was PRSA’s valiant effort a failure – a waste of time, energy and increasingly hard-to-get media coverage? My vote is no. While none of the three definitions the blue-ribbon committee offered up for a vote tripped my trigger (I have my own favorite – see below), I believe it was worth a shot. It was worth a shot because it got us thinking critically about what we do, where we fit and, most important, why we are here. Quite simply, we had to justify our existence.

This exercise proved something to me. The more I tried to find a “new-and-improved” definition of PR (“Now with extra stain-fighting power!”), the more I heard a voice that said, “KISS, Roger, KISS.” Some people define KISS as “Keep it short and sweet.” I learned it as “Keep it simple, stupid.”

So what’s a KISS definition of PR? Try this on for size: “We use communications to help people solve problems and do better at what they want to do.”

Admittedly, it doesn’t have the bells and whistles of a good old jargonized definition. And it doesn’t mention “engagement,” “conversation,” “community” or other such social media terms. But it does tell a story, and it does convey value. It shows we define our contribution in terms of whether we helped an individual or groups of individuals (organizations are people, too, right?). Moreover, it demonstrates we’re focused on an outcome that is both important and measurable. Did we help overcome a challenge so things turned out better? It’s also a great conversation starter. “You solve problems? Really? What kinds of problems? How do you do it? Can you give me some examples?” (Note to self: If you know how to solve problems, you will always have a job.)

Most important of all, though, it’s a definition that just about everyone – including clients, colleagues and even moms and dads – can understand.

Author’s note: As promised, here’s my favorite “official” definition of public relations courtesy of Drs. Larry Long and Vince Hazelton: “Public relations is a communication function of management through which organizations adapt to, alter or maintain their environment for the purpose of achieving organizational goals.”

“I was born with a plastic spoon in my mouth,
The north side of my town faced east, and the east was facing south.”
- Pete Townshend

"I kinda wish this picture weren't on the Web..."

Keith Trivitt’s “New Realities of Crisis Communications” from PRBreakfast Club is a terrific, terrific post about what crisis communications is looking like these daze as we kick off another year. Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s words were ill-advised, to say the least, and – as Trivitt rightly points out – condescending, out-of-touch and downright dumb.

Thing is, this type of misstep – an off-the-cuff remark that comes to symbolize an individual or organization (e.g., Tony Hayward and BP, as Trivitt writes) – is the by-product not just of the advance of social media where every phrase goes global instantly, but also of our increasing need to categorize events and issues in digestible chunks. Gosh darnit, it’s just easier to point to BP and say “Well, they’re an evil empire, and everything they do and everyone who works there is evil – just look at what their boss said.”

To be sure, generalizations can, in fact, be helpful sometimes to our species: “I see a tiger across the road. Last week a tiger mauled Freddie. I should stay away from that tiger.” But this survival skill, well-ingrained in our brain, does not serve us as well when we apply it to the way we live our lives today. It’s a thin line between generalizing and stereotyping, and both can be very destructive forces.

And yet, this instinct is precisely what crisis communication consultants need to be aware of and address head-on. Our clients and management teams must understand that this is how the vast majority of observers will respond in a crisis situation and do everything in their power to ensure they don’t inadvertently add fuel to the fire.

Having a crisis communication plan in place ahead of time is one key step. Regular spokesperson training and preparation is another. In the heat of the moment when the Flip cams, iPads and netbooks are on and reporting the story, it is critical that the spokesperson think before speaking and ask him/herself, “how could what I say be misinterpreted?”

The bottom line? If it looks like a foot and it smells like a foot, you really don’t need to find out if it tastes like a foot, too.

Related articles

• First Aid: Developing Your Response Plan (kimpowellapr.wordpress.com)
• Expert advice: When bad things happen (knoxnews.com)
• Securosis: Crisis Communications (boxofmeat.net)
• Crisis communication series: Effective response (knoxnews.com)
• Crisis communications series: Using social media (knoxnews.com)
• Crisis communication series: Common mistakes (knoxnews.com)

“I was framed, framed, I was blamed oh, framed, framed, framed,
Well, I never knew nothin’ but I always get framed.”
- Richie Valens

“I PRAISE YOU 24/7!!!!!! AND THIS HOW YOU DO ME!!!!! YOU EXPECT ME TO LEARN FROM THIS??? HOW???!!! ILL NEVER FORGET THIS!! EVER!!! THX THO…”

Drop kick me, Jesus, through the goalposts of life.

So posted Steve Johnson, wideout receiver for the Buffalo Bills, on Twitter a few hours after a regular season loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in which he dropped what would have been a game-winning pass. And to whom was this missive addressed? Yep, you guessed it: God. The Almighty Lord, the Ruler of the Universe, the One, the Creator, Yaweh, Adonai, Allah. Yep, that God.

Okay, perhaps Mr. Johnson was caught up in the emotion of the day. It certainly must be difficult to have one’s mistakes broadcast to millions of fans around the globe in full high-definition flat-screen color. That’s a heavy burden to be sure.

And yet . . . there’s something about this comment that bugs the hell out of us.

Beyond demonstrating an ego the size of Mount Rushmore that would invite someone to think that the Master of the Universe would reach down in Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park, New York, and purposefully knock a football out of one’s hands on a Sunday afternoon (wouldn’t God have something a little more important to deal with?), this statement reveals something far more troubling to us. For in laying responsibility at the feet of God, Mr. Johnson is essentially saying, “Hey, y’all, don’t blame me for dropping the ball. I didn’t have anything to do with it, really. You know I’m a helluva football player, and I don’t make mistakes. Not like this. You looking for someone to blame? Blame God. It was all His fault.”

This is just wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong.

Accepting personal responsibility for human errors, whether intentional or not, is the currency of building and sustaining a positive reputation (read: brand) with others. We are taught as children not to lie, cheat, steal or blame someone else for our failings. Before anyone can begin to move forward after a mistake, some variation of the following words must be said: “I’m sorry. I screwed up. I didn’t mean to, but I did. Please remember I’m only human, and I’m not perfect. I promise to learn from this and figure out how I can do better in the future. And I will do my best to fix what went wrong.”

Why is this important? Well, for one thing it teaches our children how to navigate the rocky shoals of growing up and getting along with others. When young folks hear a comment like this, it pretty much tells them it’s okay to place blame on others’ shoulders. More to the point here, though, it’s important because accepting personal responsibility reminds us that we are infallible. It reminds us we are, in fact, prone to make errors. It teaches us to act with humility instead of  bravado, and confidence rather than arrogance. Most important, it can help us focus on the process of healthy self-improvement. All in all, it’s pretty simple: Face the facts; if you mess up, ‘fess up. Then look inside and figure out as best you can what went wrong so you won’t repeat the mistake.

Sounds pretty simple and straightforward, doesn’t it? Like something you would have heard from your parents, camp counselor, teacher, rabbi or minister. Mr. Johnson, it seems, is forever trapped in a “Family Circus” comic strip replete with “Not Me’s” and “I Dunno’s.”

"You can't pin this on me, copper!"

Most mature adults know and understand this. Okay, now substitute the word “organization” for “personal” and “Our company” for “I.” And add a few attorneys, large shareholders and corporate wonks to the mix, sprinkle in some reporters and then toss ‘em all in the middle of an organizational crisis. Suddenly, the rules have changed. Responsibility is too often viewed as something to be avoided at all costs.

Recovering from a crisis begins before it starts with the words, “We will not lie, cheat, steal or blame someone else for our failings. If we make a mistake, we will say, as quickly and honestly as possible: “We’re sorry. Our company screwed up. We didn’t mean to, but we did. Please remember we’re an organization of humans, and we are not perfect. We promise to learn from this and figure out how we can do better in the future. And we will do our best to fix what went wrong.”

Some companies have learned this the hard way. Others haven’t yet learned it or think the rules don’t apply to them (hint: that’s a mistake from which they’re likely to learn). As reputation designers, our task is to help our clients and superiors learn this lesson before they need to learn it under the gun. How? Well, all too often it’s by pointing out examples of others who didn’t learn it either before the feces hit the rotating wind machine.

As for Mr. Johnson? Well, judging by the reaction on the Web thus far, it’s pretty clear more people will remember him for this lily-livered, lame-brained excuse than for anything else he says or does this season. And as for next season and those to come? Well, let’s just all wish him the best of luck in explaining his comment to the fellow he blamed. Now THAT would be worth watching in HD.

• God Dropped the Ball… (friendlyatheist.com)
• God Took The Points Against The Buffalo Bills, Says Steve Johnson (sbnation.com)
• NFLer Drops Game-Winning Touchdown, Blames God (tmz.com)
• Steve Johnson to God: Come On!!! (thehollywoodgossip.com)
• NFL Player Blames God For Loss (Player Press)
• Steve Johnson Blames God on Twitter (New York Daily News)