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Just a
Thought
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"Bad news doesn't age well."
- Tim
Ryan, U.S.
chairman PwC
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From
the Editor
Although
it's not typically
a riveting piece
of television,
this year's Oscars
did give us
something
discussion-worthy
beyond who wore
what on the red
carpet. In a
blunder that you'd
have to be
avoiding the
internet to have
missed by now, the
wrong winner was
announced for Best
Picture. And not
with an instant,
"Woops,
nevermind"...the
poor movie
producers (ok
maybe poor isn't
the right word)
were actually
on-stage
delivering
acceptance
speeches when
staffers came to
pull them off and
correct the
mistake!
It
was quickly
revealed that PwC,
one of the "Big
Four" accounting
firms, is
responsible for
tabulating and
delivering Academy
Awards voting
results. And, that
this wasn't a
calculation error
but a simple
mistake of handing
over the wrong
envelope. Ouch.
Mistakes
happen, and
sometimes BIG
mistakes happen.
What matters is
your response.
PwC's U.S.
chairman Tim Ryan
took the lead for
this one, and I
was impressed. A
quote from the NY
Times
coverage of the
crisis really
caught my eye:
"What
was going
though my head
at the time
was, 'We have
to get to the
bottom of
this, and if
we made a
mistake, we'll
own up to
it,'" Mr. Ryan
said. "My
philosophy in
life is, bad
news doesn't
age well."
The
cause of the
problem was
known rapidly,
nothing was hurt
beyond pride, no
lasting damage
was done, and
nobody's daily
lives were
disrupted. This
is prime
circumstance for
a quick recovery
and PwC pounced
on the
opportunity.
Ryan shared
similar
sentiments with
the press
throughout the
night and next
day, and PwC
also published a
statement which
was shared
widely:
We
sincerely
apologize to
"Moonlight,"
"La La Land,"
Warren Beatty,
Faye Dunaway,
and Oscar
viewers for
the error that
was made
during the
award
announcement
for Best
Picture. The
presenters had
mistakenly
been given the
wrong category
envelope and
when
discovered,
was
immediately
corrected. We
are currently
investigating
how this could
have happened,
and deeply
regret that
this occurred.
We
appreciate the
grace with
which the
nominees, the
Academy, ABC,
and Jimmy
Kimmel handled
the situation.
---PwC
The
Academy's
copyright
enforcement makes
it difficult for
video of the event
to live on via
YouTube as well,
meaning I expect
this crisis to "go
away" before long.
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Write
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