When in Doubt, Take the High Road - Sethi vs. Arrington Spat
I’ve been watching the quick death dance of Blognation, and have been waiting to see an explanation that made any sense.
Matthew Ingram captures it best when he notes that founder Sam Sethi managed to find a graceless way to shift all blame on to TechCrunch’s Michael Arrington, while minimizing his own stupidity in concealing the company’s financial situation from the largely unpaid editors, without whom Blognation is nothing.
Whatever happened to the old tradition of taking the high road, blaming no one but bad luck, and quietly falling on your figurative corporate sword?
Too many sources to dole out hat tips, but here’s one to John Furrier for his post, to Oliver Starr for scorching the earth under Sethi’s feet, and to Tris Hussey for showing class.
From the archives:
- Management by Train Wreck: Pulisher Fires Editor by E-mail
- Open Discussion of Terminations. Is this a New Trend?
Tags: manners, etiquette, business, blame, sam sethi, mike arrington, blognation
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POSTED IN: Crisis Communications, Employee Communications, Ethics, Office Politics, Reputation Management, Social Media, Spin
3 opinions for When in Doubt, Take the High Road - Sethi vs. Arrington Spat
Rudolf Olah
Dec 14, 2007 at 1:51 am
I like that falling on the corporate sword bit. I’ll have to use that sometime!
And it’s true, taking the high road is the better way to go, especially in our age where if you so much as sneeze, someone’s blogging it half a world away!
Eric Eggertson
Dec 14, 2007 at 7:45 am
Rudolf:
When you’re under attack, your first instinct is to fight back. Sometimes that’s the way to go, but just as often it’s better to stay above the fray, accept ultimate responsibility, and NOT sling mud.
Tris Hussey
Dec 14, 2007 at 10:49 am
Thank you for the post and the link Eric. There is a lot to be learned from a PR standpoint here …
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