Birdbrain leadership

Birdbrain leadership

Ong Hock Chuan, Partner, PT Maverick Solusi Komunikasi, Jakarta

There are three simple steps to effective crisis management
that government institutes ignore at the risk of losing their
credibility: Respond quickly, tell the truth and make it right.

The Indonesian government ignored all three with the bird flu
outbreak. If it was not for the fact that its credibility is
already as low as it can get, its mismanagement of the bird flu
would have plunged the country into a greater, immediate, crisis.

First, the government failed to respond quickly. It was only
on Jan. 25 -- months after the first bird flu outbreaks were
reported in Indonesia -- that the government finally confirmed
there was an outbreak of bird flu. Then it dillied and dallied
for four days and after much pressure from the World Health
Organization (WHO), it finally ordered a selective cull.

Second, it failed to tell the truth. While not lying outright,
Megawati and her ministers managed to bamboozle the Indonesian
people, the international community and themselves with
outrageous statements that have little to do with facts.
Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Yusuf Kalla, for
instance, was quoted as saying that the government would replace
existing chickens with a new breed. What breed of chicken is
immune to bird flu, which affects all avian species?

Third, it failed to make things right. Instead of being
decisive and ordering a cull of infected chickens in all affected
areas and their surroundings to contain the outbreak, the
government has ordered only a partial cull. The reasons are lame.

The agriculture minister struck a defiant note in saying that
the government "will not imitate neighboring countries" because
-- get this -- "culling would certainly reduce the poultry
population drastically". Is the purpose of culling ultimately to
save human lives and contain the disease from wiping the rest of
the poultry stock or to maintain a huge poultry population?

By failing in all three steps, Megawati and her ministers are
sacrificing the well being of Indonesians and the credibility of
the government to their own miscalculation of increasing their
electoral chances.

This is shortsighted. What the people want in moments of
crisis is leadership. They want their leaders to be able to make
the difficult decisions that may harm a community, but benefits
society at large. They want to be informed constantly with solid
facts and they want the government to articulate a lucid plan for
getting them out of this situation.

If the public's needs are not fulfilled, then they will not
vote for such people who cannot get their act together -- either
for themselves or for the country.

A sad fact about Indonesia, however, is that there is little
alternative to the Megawati government, at least until the
elections are over in September. By then, precious human lives
may have been lost, not to mention the poultry industry,
depleted.

But it is easy to criticize without having to handle the
crisis; below are three simple steps the government could take to
stamp out bird flu and regain the people's trust and confidence.

First, it must regain control of the situation. It needs to
set up a powerful coordinating body to call the shots and make
active recommendations to the president. A minister should be put
in charge who would be responsible for containing and eliminating
the disease.

There is no shortage of good advice from WHO and other experts
who have had experience in dealing with bird flu and similar
outbreaks. Singapore, for instance, would be only too pleased to
lend a helping hand.

The coordinating body needs to get the best advice and then
act on it, even if the actions may not be popular ones.

Second, the government needs to inform the people of the
situation and the steps being taken to end the crisis. To do this
effectively, it must gather the facts and communicate them
constantly and effectively. Some of these facts may not be
comforting, but the public would be more placated than they would
be in an atmosphere of suspicion, gossip and rumor.

Third, the government needs to respond to the changing
situations decisively and openly.

One of the main failings in handling a crisis situation is
denial. Another major failing is to act on assumptions or
erroneous "facts".

These steps are not difficult to implement and there are
already established systems for doing so, such as the Incident
Command System developed and used by authorities in the United
States.

What is lacking here is leadership and the political will to
put someone in charge and give him or her the mandate to bring
the situation under control.

If Megawati has any conscience and love for the country, she
should overcome her reservations and do the right thing by
Indonesia -- by setting up an Incident Command System and
appointing the right person for the job.

Indonesia is not bereft of capable men and women, but leaders.
Unfortunately, we have to rely on those in power to let these
capable individuals come to the fore.

Maverick is a public relations consultancy specializing in
crisis and issues management as well as brand strategy.