Everyone messes up. In that way, we are all the same. Where we are different is the manner in which we respond to our own mistakes. Some people will take responsibility, and some will not. Some will take affirmative action to hide what they have done, while others will bring to light their wrongdoing before anyone else even knows. There are those that will do no more than they have to in order to compensate those people they have hurt, just like there are those that are generous to a fault when they have made a mistake. There are as many responses to wrongdoings as there are people.
A person’s response to a mess-up often says a lot about them. The proper response can go a long way toward mitigating the damage that has been done to the person wronged. A proper response can even improve the reputation of the person that committed the wrong. Adversity can go a long way to clarifying the true character of a person.
Let’s pretend we’re neighbors. I paint my house, and the wind blows paint all over your car. You’re not going to be happy, but you know mistakes happen. There’s no question that I’m responsible for your damages. Would you rather I tell you to go get it fixed, and I will pay whatever it costs plus any out of pocket expenses, or would you prefer that I fight you all the way on the costs and then delay my payment to you as long as possible? Which scenario do you think would bring us closer together as neighbors?
In Central Arkansas, we recently had a major oil spill. It made quite a mess. If you were a large corporation and made billions of dollars selling oil, wouldn’t you want to make this spill as “nice” for your neighbors as you could by minimizing the pain they felt from this spill? Even if you could lowball the expenses of this Arkansas spill, don’t you think that the way you clean up this mess is going to be used as argument for or against your reputation of cleaning up these kinds of messes in the future?
I do not understand why this large corporation does not go in and offer every landowner double the value of their property. It is a lot of money to shell out, but it’s nothing compared to what this corporation makes in profit on a yearly basis. I have seen it reported that the offers for the homes affected by this spill have been in amounts only equal to the value of the homes prior to the spill. This may seem fair to some, but it does not take into account the suffering the inhabitants have been through.
Most importantly, from a business standpoint, trying to get out cheap does nothing to encourage the feeling of security for those that may live near new pipeline construction. If you’re going to build a pipeline near me, I would feel a whole lot better if I knew that you would make it right if something bad should happen. How could an overly generous response to those damaged by the spill hurt the owners of the pipeline in the world of public opinion?
It just seems like a good idea to clean up your mess when you’ve made a mistake. When you making money is what caused the mess, why make matters worse trying to get out cheap? In business, as in life, it is important to evaluate the long term effects of your actions. Things that look good or profitable in the short term can often come back to haunt us in the long term. Properly cleaning up your mess today can keep it from stinking in the future. That’s true for everybody, especially those of us way up in the CHEAP SEATS!
Bill James is a co-founder of the James Law Firm with offices in Little Rock, Conway and Fayetteville, Arkansas. His primary area of practice is criminal defense. He can be contacted at Bill@JamesFirm.com