Anyone who has ever worked in an organization knows about the “grapevine”—the informal rumor-mill where fact and speculation mix together to breed various strains of truth, half-truths and outright misconceptions.

Strategic, open communications can reduce the grapevine’s activity and influence. This is even more apparent, and important, as companies and their stakeholders (including employees) engage more in the range of communication channels powered by social media tools and platforms such as blogs, Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

Companies today are looking to join in the conversations occurring within and outside of the company walls. Those conversations can change and move rapidly, which makes it more difficult for company “spokespersons” (either formally designated or ad hoc) to be a trusted participant if they haven’t spent time engaging with others.

Some of the bigger challenges occur in times of change, when information may be less available or less readily shared, and the unknown can seem more apparent and more ominous. Does that describe the situation at Hewlett-Packard, following the sudden resignation on Friday of Mark Hurd, HP’s chairman, chief executive officer and president? (Read more in my previous post.)

A few HP executives have been quoted in articles appearing online. For example, in the U.K., a Guardian newspaper’s online article quoted HP’s general counsel Michael Holston as stating that Hurd engaged in a “systematic pattern” of submitting falsified financial reports to hide a “close personal relationship” with a former HP contractor.

The official HP blog, Data Central, on Saturday offered scant information other than a retread of the corporate statement published on Friday. It stated that “Comments are closed for this post and will not be published.”

Let’s hope that the communications internally at HP were much more transparent. After all, Hurd was not universally loved within HP for his tough business decisions that led to thousands of job cuts over the years. How will HP’s communications staff manage this time of change?

That was exactly the topic of a session led by HP communicators Robin Andrews and Desiree Sylvester in 2005. It was titled, “Keeping employees focused and engaged in times of change,” and it was delivered on the day before Hurd accepted the IABC EXCEL Award at the IABC International Conference in Washington, D.C.

Much of what Robin and Desiree shared in that presentation could hold true today, such as the “communication challenges”:

• Balance focus on delivering day-to-day business vs. change
• Manage leaks in the media
• Everything said internally was expected to be shared externally—very difficult to give employees additional or advance information

Check out the presentation and then let’s see what surfaces from HP’s employees. Will they feel like their feelings and opinions have been heard?

Another more minor observation. I had noticed that on Friday, the day of the Hurd resignation announcement, the HP site was not completely updated. Although the press release was posted under HP’s News Releases section, the company leader page still indicated that Hurd was in charge.

On Saturday, the site was updated to indicate that Cathie Lesjak
was named interim chief executive officer and would remain chief financial officer.

I first met Mark Hurd at the 2005 IABC International Conference in Washington, D.C. He had just joined Hewlett-Packard as its CEO and president, after a successful stint in a similar role at NCR. In fact, Hurd was being honored as the recipient of IABC’s EXCEL Award for his support, encouragement and practice of exemplary communication.

It saddened me to read the news article on Friday under the headline, “HP CEO Hurd resigns after sexual-harassment probe.” To be clear, an investigation by HP’s outside legal counsel and its General Counsel’s Office, overseen by the HP Board determined that no violation of HP’s sexual harassment policy occurred. However, it did find that Hurd violated HP’s Standards of Business Conduct. Read the official statement on the HP website.

As I reviewed some notes I took during Hurd’s address at the 2005 conference, the irony of some of his comments and statements jumped out.

• He had begun his remarks, following a warm applause by the audience, with the comment, "As CEO, you aren't used to hearing people say nice things about you."
• Hurd later told the audience that the term "fired" originated from an incident that involved two early leaders at NCR. Quick summary: NCR head John Patterson allegedly punctuated the termination of Thomas John Watson, Sr. by having Watson's desk taken outside and set ablaze. Hence, the phrase "fired."

I’ve since found many references to the origin of the phrase, “fired,” that don’t point to NCR. It may be another example of Hurd’s misunderstanding of information—like HP’s Standards of Business Conduct.

Two other Hurd comments from his 2005 EXCEL Award address stood out to me today:


• The CEO can't replace the relationship of front-line employees with their immediate supervisors, he said. "The CEO can provide a context [to] try to bring clarity."
• Hurd later said that as he would "promote, demote, recognize and reward people, I tell 30,000 people what I value."


As a highly visible CEO, Hurd has sent a message to his employees with his misconduct, and I hope that it doesn’t erase the good that he did for HP. I also hope he uses this as a lesson in what to value most as a business leader and champion of communication excellence.

What context and clarity can Hurd’s interim successor, Cathie Lesjak, bring to company employees? In my next post, I’ll look back at a presentation on employee communications made at that same 2005 IABC International Conference by HP communicators, and then compare that with what has been communicated in the past couple of days following Hurd’s resignation.

UPDATE 5/14/2010: Follow the Twitter conversation with the hashtag #braudtalk

I’m hosting Gerard Braud‘s Friday Free Media Training Teleseminar. The fun begins at 11 a.m. CDT. Sign up here

This series of teleseminars is helping to raise awareness of his new book, Don't Talk to the Media.

Braud’s tour and communication “lessons learned” about Hurricane Katrina were one of the highlights for me when I attended the 2007 IABC International (now World) Conference in New Orleans. He is savvy, experienced and very entertaining.

Join us and bring your questions!

A few times in recent weeks, I’ve been unable to watch video news items promoted on Yahoo!. I click the link to watch…

…and get a “not available” message:

Has anyone else had this experience? Is the video source pulling the videos because of a surge in traffic, is this a conspiracy to make Yahoo! look bad, or something else?

In the past couple of days, terrorist plots have been in the news, indirectly targeting two innocent faith groups which have to once again see that people don’t understand some very basic concepts.

The first terrorist plot was launched successfully on Monday, March 29, when twin suicide bombings of the Moscow subway system killed 39 people and wounded scores more. The attack has been blamed on “Muslim extremists” in the Caucasus region.

The second terrorist plot was nipped in the planning stages over the weekend, when nine “apocalyptic Christian militants,” who were plotting to kill law enforcement officers in hopes of inciting an antigovernment uprising, were arrested in raids in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana.

The link in those two separate terrorist events was the belief that political change needed to be made through violence, and that the violence was approved by the God of these Muslim and Christian terrorists. Nothing could be further from the truth, and these terrorists couldn’t be further from true Muslims and Christians.

The time has come to sit and resolve all problems by dialogue, and to completely abandon violent ways using guns and bombs. Islam never says you should fight with another person. This concept is wrong.

That is a quote by Maulana Jameel Ahmed Ilyasi, secretary-general of the All-India Association of Imams and Mosques, during a visit to Israel, organized by the American Jewish Committee’s (AJC) India office. Ilaysi arrived as part of a delegation of Indian Muslim leaders and journalists, and his organization represents half a million imams, who are the main religious leaders of India’s 200 million Muslims.

So he was the voice of reason for a large organization of Muslims, when asked to address Hamas’s call for jihad to destroy Israel. Ilaysi said,

I believe in peace and this is the message I take. I don't believe in anything that destroys another country.

That view would be applauded by the millions of Christians who are in the midst of Holy Week, a time for reflection and recognition of the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I imagine that the Lord is saddened by statements taken from the website created by the recently arrested militants:

A motto, “Preparing for the end time battles to keep the testimony of Jesus Christ alive”

and a quote:

Jesus wanted us to be ready to defend ourselves using the sword and stay alive using equipment. The Hutaree will one day see its enemy and meet him on the battlefield if so God wills it.

According to a news article in the March 30 New York Times,

Chip Berlet, a senior analyst at Political Research Associates, a liberal-leaning nonprofit group that tracks far-right networks, said the Hutaree’s philosophy was drawn from a populist strand that fuses fear of a conspiracy to create a one-world government with a belief that a war is imminent between Christians and the Antichrist, as described in the Bible’s Book of Revelation.

I’ve been studying the Book of Revelation with another member of my church and our youth pastor. For you non-Christians, let me assure you that it doesn’t state that anyone is to stockpile munitions and be ready to “fight for Jesus.”

Actually, Revelation is clear that the final battle against Satan and his deceived followers will be fought and won by the Lord. No sword-wielding human fanatics will be necessary.

When you read news accounts about “Muslim extremists” or “Christian militants,” please don’t help fan the flames of religious intolerance by spreading the lie that these idiots represent the Muslim or Christian faiths.

As a follower of Jesus Christ, I believe that Easter symbolizes forgiveness, rebirth, and God’s saving power. It is a victory over sin and death, which cause so much harm in people’s lives.

This Easter Sunday, I’ll be thinking about God’s saving power, and the destructive forces, like extremists and militants, that distort the true meaning of the holiday.

Peace.

March is National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, and I participated today in an awareness presentation at work, led by our local American Cancer Society representative. I still find it hard to believe that people resist examinations that could save their lives, but some of the other attendees talked about their own hesitancy, or that of a loved one.

According to the Colon Cancer Alliance, Colorectal cancer is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer and the second leading cause of cancer death in both men and women in the U.S. The American Cancer Society estimates that nearly 50,000 people died of colorectal cancer last year, representing about one-third of the new cases of that cancer that were diagnosed.

The sad fact is that 80% of all cases of colorectal cancer can be prevented with recommended screening–which too many people avoid. Colorectal cancer is one of the most detectable and, if found early enough, most treatable forms of cancer. Over 90% of those diagnosed when the cancer is found at a local stage (confined to colon or rectum) survive more than five years.

I’ve never had colon cancer, but people I know and love have, including my mom and one one my best friends, Don. My mom had a cancerous polyp removed, and with minimal follow-up treatment, has remained cancer-free for several years. Unfortunately, my friend Don wasn’t so lucky. Years ago, he had a section of his bowel removed to try to stop the spread of a cancerous polyp. We thought that the cancer was caught early enough, but Don died in 2005 after battling cancer that spread throughout his abdomen.

No one likes the screening tests that detect potential precancerous growths early, but they are a walk in the park compared to dying of cancer. I’ve seen it more than once, so believe me.

We may be moving deeper into the electronic age of communication, but people still print and distribute business cards. I trade a lot of cards with folks I meet at professional development seminars and association events, and I try to send a short note to most, as a follow-up to our meeting.

It saddens me to see how many of these communication professionals unknowlingly sabotage their effort to market themselves and/or their company. How?

They opt for flair over readibility, by choosing a typeface and/or font size that are hard to read.

A recent example: Last week, I met a very nice photographer at an IABC/Chicago networking event. We exchanged cards, and I sent her a follow-up email the next day. One day later, I received an automated notice from my mail server, stating that my email didn’t go through.

I looked at her card again. Her photography business was named after her, with a middle initial that looked like a lowercase letter “L.” Her email address was in 9-point type, with part of it appearing (to my aging eyes) to be “@klh…” I then realized that the letter I took for an “l” actually was an “i”–the difference was very hard to detect.

It is difficult to generate leads, and it is unwise to put up barriers that discourage potential customers or colleagues from reaching you.

The gold-medal game in the Olympics was just about everything that someone would want: skilled passing, shooting and goal-tending, a last-minute goal to send the game into overtime, and an athletic shot to end the game in sudden-death.

But I didn’t have a sense of national loss that I might have if the winning team had been from a Nordic country. As the teams lined up for their medals, and their names were announced, it was clearly a celebration of athletes who competed for their nation of origin, but who were making a living elsewhere. In several cases, players from the Canadian team were shipped in from a U.S.-based professional hockey team, and some of the U.S. team were cheered in Vancouver because they played professional hockey in Canada.

Does that make a difference? If you’re asking whether it was “wrong,” clearly not. If you’re asking whether it changed my attitude, I’d say that it did. I was cheering for the U.S. team to pull the upset, but when the medals were being handed out, I was proud of both teams.

It didn’t feel like “Canada versus America (U.S.).” It felt more like “Canerica” showing the world how we can compete with each other, but maintain our honor and dignity, even when we don’t “win.”

That happens in sports, and doesn’t happen often in politics or business.

I was reminded of that tonight, and I remembered why the Olympics remains important. I’m sorry that another Games has ended, and with it, the taste of what might be, in that mystical land of Canerica.

As Black History Month winds down, I’m sharing a poem that I wrote two years ago for a contest at work. I won the poem-writing portion of the contest, but I don’t think they got more than a handful of entries.

Still, I think this has value. Enjoy.

Black
“Is it because I’m black??!!”
The comedian asked.
As if being “black” could be a reason
Or an excuse
To treat someone differently.

But what is, “black”?
How could a single color
Singled out from the rainbow
Tell so many
That they have no shades of grey?

Not different
From each other.
Not the same
As anyone else.
Separate and NOT equal
In the color-blind eyes of the racist.

Is Black History Month
A time to gently return
The color black to the rainbow,
So that it can join the other colors
In a celebration?
Where every color is joined together AND equal
In the color-soaked universe of our Creator God

“Is it because I’m black?”
“Yes,” the rainbow answered.
As if we could be a rainbow
Without you
Within us
To be glorious together.

(c) 2008 Tom Keefe

Communications pro Allan Jenkins, from his base in Hjelm Bay, Møn, Denmark, sends a tweet calling the Danish daily Politiken “complete wimps” for apologizing over the publication years ago of unflattering editorial cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.

Link to story

Was it cowardice, or common sense? If an axe-wielding extremist broke into your home because you posted a comment or cartoon that might be considered “offensive,” or continued to plot ways to kill you, would you be willing to die for freedom of speech? Really?

Why then, do I hear and watch so much “humor” and “editorial comment” knocking the Christian faith, but just about zero directed at Islam? Why do people think it is acceptable, even in the workplace, to use “Jesus Christ” as a swear word, but those same people wouldn’t think of substituting “Prophet Muhammad”?

Christians don’t blow up innocent groups of people, and they don’t grab an axe to attack people who disparage their Lord, Jesus Christ.

Should they? It seems to work for Islamic extremists, at least in Denmark. Allan might think his local journalists are wimps, but maybe they are realists. And maybe we are, too.