apologies ewha hoh_oct_2010_final

apologies:from a language of ‗losers‘ to ‗leaders‘

October 8th, 2010

Presented for

Ewha Womans Graduate School of Translation and Interpretation

by

Hoh Kim, Founder & Head Coach @ THE LAB h®

(twitter: @hoh/hoh.kim@thelabh.com)

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story one

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Dr. Das Gupta, the 74-year-old chairman of surgical

oncology at the University of Illinois Medical Center at Chicago,made a serious mistake. He ―opened up a patient andremoved the wrong sliver of tissue, in this case a segment of theeighth rib instead of the ninth…‖

If you were Dr. Das Gupta…,

how would you handle this?

Source: ―Doctors Say ‗I‘m Sorry‘ Before ‗See You in Court‘‖ (NYT.com, by Kevin Sack, May 18, 2008)

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―deny and defend‖a typical malpractice lawyer‘s advice

But, Dr. Das Gupta did something remarkable…

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Source: ―Doctors Say ‗I‘m Sorry‘ Before ‗See You in Court‘‖ (NYT.com, by Kevin Sack, May 18, 2008)

―After all these years, I cannot give you any excuse whatsoever…It is just one of those things that occurred. I have to some extent harmed you.‖

Dr. Das Gupta, a highly regarded cancer surgeon, acknowledged his mistake to his patient‘s face,

and sincerely apologized

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Source: ―Doctors Say ‗I‘m Sorry‘ Before ‗See You in Court‘‖ (NYT.com, by Kevin Sack, May 18, 2008)

The results of the apologies?

the patient…:

• retained a lawyer but decided not to sue;

• after a brief negotiation, accepted $74,000 from the hospital

―She told me that the doctor was completely candid, completely

honest, and so frank that she and her husband — usually the

husband wants to pound the guy — that all the anger was gone,”

(David J. Pritchard, the patient‘s lawyer)

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Source: ―Doctors Say ‗I‘m Sorry‘ Before ‗See You in Court‘‖ (NYT.com, by Kevin Sack, May 18, 2008)

the results: when an organization adopts a new approach of conflict resolution using apologies…

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½Within the first two years, malpractice filings against the University of Illinois has dropped by half

1/37In the 37 cases where the hospital acknowledged a preventable error and apologized, only one patient has filed suit.

Source: ―Doctors Say ‗I‘m Sorry‘ Before ‗See You in Court‘‖ (NYT.com, by Kevin Sack, May 18, 2008)

story two

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98,000 vs. 3,000

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(Institute of Medicine, US, 1999) (9/11)

Korea?

• 14,000 (7,000)

• 7,600 (deaths result from traffic accidents - #5)

before vs. after ‗disclosure‘ program @ U of Michigan (Ann Arbor)

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262

220193

155

11483

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2007

Number of claims and lawsuits against U of Mich. Health System

U of Mich.

disclosure program introduced

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before vs. after ‗disclosure‘ program @ U of Michigan (Ann Arbor)

August 2001 August 2005

Annual litigation cost

3 million USD 1 million USD

Average time to resolution of claims and lawsuits

20.7 months 9.5 months

How disclosure program works?

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Step Action Remarks

#1: Initial Disclosure & Apology

―We are sorry this happened We feel bad as we are sure you do too.‖; ―We are going to do a thorough investigation…as we learn things, so will you.‖Contact informationHelp with phone calls, food, lodging, clergy, etc.

Approach, do NOT avoidCustomer service frameworkEmpathy only at this stageCommunicate what you know (what, when, where vs. why, how, who)

#2: Thorough& Transparent Investigation

Involve outside experts…don‘t want to look like you‘re grading your own papers!; Move quickly –UI Medical Center in 72 hours or less; Stay in close contact with patient/family

Open, NOT closed-approachDoctors or lawyers from patient‘s side

#3: Resolution-Error

Apologize, Admit Fault, Compensate

#3: Resolution-No error

Empathize, Answer Questions, Open Records, Prove Innocence, Never Settle

Three principles of disclosure @ U of Mich.

• Compensate quickly and fairly when inappropriate medical care causes injury.

• Defend medically appropriate care vigorously.

• Reduce patient injuries (and therefore claims) by learning from mistakes.

- source: Univ. of Michigan Disclosure Program

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Major hospitals with disclosure program

• VA hospital/all VA hospitals

• University of Michigan

• University of Illinois Medical Center

• Stanford University and Harvard Teaching Hospitals

• Kaiser hospitals (28 hospitals)

• Minneapolis Children‘s

• Catholic Healthcare West (40 hospitals)

• COPIC

• Catholic Health Initiatives

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State apology-immunity laws

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Status States

Enacted (34) AZ, CA, CO, CT, DE, FL, GA, HI, ID, IL, IN, LA, ME, MD, MA, MO, MT, NE, NH, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VT, VA, WA, WV, WY

States not enacted (16)

AL, AK, AR, IA, KA, KY, MI, MN, MS, NV, NJ, NM, PA, RI, WI

―The current tort system does not promote open communication to improve patient

safety. On the contrary, it jeopardizes patient safety by creating an intimidating liability

environment.‖

Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Barack Obama, ―Making Patient Safety the Centerpiece of Medical Liability Reform,‖

New England Journal of Medicine (May 25, 2006)

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why?context of apologies

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Why? – personal context• A conclusion of my crisis communication

management consulting/coaching experience for the last 12+ years

• ―The other half of crisis management for medical doctors‖ (The Korean Ophthalmological Society Newsletter, Sept. 2007)

• Doug Wojcieszak @ SorryWorks! Coalition – Train the trainer (St. Louis, 2007. 10)

• Co-translated ―SORRY WORKS!‖ (with three MDs)

• Co-write ―Leaders‘ apologies (tentative title, with Dr. Jaeseung Jeong, to be published 1Q of 2011)

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Why? – social context

• Transparency: ―virtually everyone has a camera and recorder 24 hours a day‖

• “Power shift”: from traditional organization to individuals (social media impact)

• Responsibility: corporate social responsibility

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Anything common?

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0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

Chosun.com

NYT.com

Data gathered: 1) ―Public apology (Kong-gae-sa-gwa)‖ in chosun.com; 2) ―Public apology, apologize, and apology‖ in nyt.com

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Trend: Public apologies in Korea and the U.S.

0

100

200

300

400

김영삼 김대중 노무현 이명박

News

Blog (x 00)

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News (headline search only) and blog post search by Naver using ―사과,김영삼,‖ ―사과, 김대중,‖ ―사과, 노무현,‖ and ―사과, 이명박‖ were conducted April 18, 2010

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Trend (Korea): ―Presidential‖ apologies

0

500

1000

1500

2000

Clinton Bush Obama

News

Blog (x000)

23

News and blog search by Google using ―apology, clinton,‖ ―apology, bush,‖ and ―apology, obama‖ were conducted April 18, 2010

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Trend (the U.S.): ―Presidential‖ apologies

what?‗languages‘ of apologies

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―I‘m sorry‖ is not really an apology.

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Languages Examples/Remarks

Regret ―I‘m sorry‖

Account What are you sorry for?

Responsibility ―I made a mistake,‖ ―It was my fault‖

Repetition ―I will never…‖

Recovery action/Compensation

Financial vs. non-financial

Forgiveness ―Will you forgive me?‖

―Sorry seems to be the hardest word‖?(Elton John, released in 1976)

Sorry seems to be the easiest apologetic language.

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when?timing of apologies

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―Too late‖: Jung Ji-young‘s case

• <Don‘t eat the marshmallow yet>

• Too late (the translation issue was raised on Oct. 11th, 2006, but, she apologized in the night of Oct. 19th, 2006)

• Too much silence…

• Legally ―not guilty‖ vs. reputation/career

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―Better late than early‖?(Cynthia McPherson Frantz & Courtney Bennigson, 2005,

Journal of Experimental Social Psychology)

• Victim‘s satisfaction level: Later apology > early apology > no apology

• Voice and understanding (―more time to feel heard and understood‖) is critical before apology

• Timing of personal vs. public apologies

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where?channels of apologies

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face to face is the best(1:1 situation)

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Use of Youtube for ‗one to many‘ public apologies on social media

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Domino pizza: Patrick Doyle (2009. 4) – 750,000 viewed on Youtube

jetBlue: David Neelman, (ex-) CEO (2007. 2) – 360,000 viewed on Youtube

Benefits of video apologies

• Editing (production)

• Timing (release)

• Search (attention)

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MATTEL Bob Eckert CEO (2007. 8)

Before video apologies

After video apologies

Purchase intention 71% 76%

Trust 75% 84%

Source: HRD Research (August 2007)http://www.mediacurves.com/nationalmediafocus/J6482/

who?whose ‗mouth‘ is better?

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Whose mouth is better?

Mymouth

“Their” mouths

My strengths

OMy weaknesses (mistakes,wrongdoings) O

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―The Pizza Turnaround‖ campaign by Domino‘s Pizza

(stock price of the first half of 2010 went up 70% compared to 2009)

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―Ugly is only skin-deep.‖

(Volkswagen, 1966)

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Avis advertised its weaknesses?11% 35% (within 4 years of campaign)

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How?‗grammar‘ of apologies

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No ‗passive voice‘

• ―classic Washington linguistic construct‖ (New York Times)

• ―Mistakes were made‖ has been used widely– Ronald Reagan (Iran-

Contra scandal)– Sununu, Chief of Staff for

George Bush– Bill Clinton (Fund raising)– Steve Balmer (Microsoft)

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No ‗conditional‘

• ―I am sorry if anyone was offended by the wardrobe malfunction during the halftime performance‖ (media

relations manager for Justin Timberlake)

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―I am sorry if you were hurt by my comment.‖

vs.―I am sorry I hurt you.‖

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Conclusion

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To err is human.

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Mistakes are part of the dues one pays for a full life.(Sophia Loren)

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• Every human being makes, small or large, mistakes throughout her/his life.

• Leaders are human beings, and no exception to this rule.

• So, all leaders make mistakes, in the past, present, and future.

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Of course, good leaders will try to prevent

their mistakes/wrongdoings, but, still,

some mistakes/wrongdoings will happen, anyway.

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Then, how to protect your leadership when you already

made a mistake?

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The best way to protect your leadership in front of your mistakes/wrongdoings is

NOT to protect yourself…

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but to protect your relationshipwith ‗the other(s),‘

and right apologies are the languages for you in front of your

mistakes/wrongdoings.

―Understanding when and how to apologize can provide invaluable insights into our relationships with others.‖ (Nick Smith)

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Apology is a new language of ‗leaders,‘ not ‗losers.‘

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apologies:from a language of ‗losers‘ to ‗leaders‘

October 8th, 2010

Presented for

Ewha Womans Graduate School of Translation and Interpretation

by

Hoh Kim, Founder & Head Coach @ THE LAB h®

(twitter: @hoh/hoh.kim@thelabh.com)

52Hoh Kim 2010