Masters of Disaster: The Ten Commandments of Damage Control Book

Part I Crisis as a State of Nature

Prologue: Not a Question of If, but When 3

1 Crisis as a State of Nature 7

Part II It's a Matter of Life or Death: The Principles of Survival

2 Stop Digging 21

3 Do No Harm 25

4 Discipline 39

5 Credibility 49

Part III The Ten Commandments of Damage Control

6 Playing to Win 59

7 Commandment I: Full Disclosure 63

8 Commandment II: Speak to Your Core Audience 77

9 Commandment III: Don't Feed the Fire 95

10 Commandment IV: Details Matter 111

11 Commandment V: Hold Your Head High 131

12 Commandment VI: Be Straight about What You Know, What You Don't Know, and What You Are Going to Do to Fix the Problem 147

13 Commandment VII: Respond with Overwhelming Force 165

14 Commandment VIII: First In, First Out 181

15 Commandment IX: No Swiftboating 201

16 Commandment X: They Dissemble, You Destroy 219

17 The Damage Control Survival Kit 239

18 The User's Manual 241

Acknowledgments 245

Index 247

About the Authors 251