Accentuate the Positive, 3.0

“Reports of my demise are greatly exaggerated.” Apparently, so were reports that Will Ferrell died in a paragliding accident.

i-Newswire took that bait. It’s since been quickly debunked, and they’ve taken out the erroneous information.

Stay tuned to their explanation for this one…

When faced with a potential crisis, the natural reaction is to get all defensive, and forget about all of the good things you did leading up to the moment. You forget about your training.

There are a number of philosophies and analogies people like to fall back on in these situations. I like martial arts.

There are a number of approaches to defending an attack. One is to go head on, meeting force with force in a linear fashion. Other arts use a “softer” style, absorbing the energy, re-directing it, and putting it to use against the attacker. (Of all of the martial-arts movie guys, Steven Segal’s Aikido skills most match this.)

Take the negative energy, and focus it to your advantage.

The Alabama Department of Agriculture executed this tactic perfectly this week. Faced with America’s third confirmed case of BSE (or “Mad Cow Disease,”) it would be easy to shrink from the fray. Previous reports have led to plummeting meat consumption, export controls, and a host of irrational fears.

Ag. Commissioner Ron Sparks dealt with the news quickly and professionally:

“I was very concerned to find out that the samples that tested positive for BSE were from a cow in Alabama, but this is exactly the reason that we emphasis the importance of BSE surveillance,” said Sparks. “The cow was tested as part of the enhanced BSE surveillance program that has been in place in Alabama,” said Sparks. “Even cows brought in from other states get tested for BSE before they would have a chance to be sold as food. I cannot stress enough how important this testing is to protect consumers. Also, having the Premises ID program in place in Alabama means we are able to trace the origin of a diseased animal. The cattle producers of Alabama understand the need for these precautions as well and we will continue to work together closely to protect consumers.”

Later, he summed up the key point:

“Beef is safe, and we can continue to consume beef as we did yesterday. This is just an example of the firewalls that we have put in place the past few years.”

Interesting use of analogy, and one that communicates to a lot of people. It also stresses that the Alabama Department of Agriculture & Industries is on the job, and that this was an internal discovery. Everything worked like it is supposed to.

Be truthful — lay it all out — and take credit for doing your job. The only thing that makes that recipe hard is the attitude of the messenger. Get all defensive, and you are your own worst enemy. Just like in martial arts.

(Also — props to the department for putting the news conference online in both Windows Media and RealPlayer formats.)