Lessons from The Komen Crisis

The moment Komen decided to cut off Planned Parenthood funding, the entire roll out of events was predictable. With the decision reversed, it's time to take stock and apply the lessons learned ourselves:

1. It doesn't matter if you intend a decision to be political or not... if it has political consequences, it's political. This firestorm was not only predictable; it was absolutely mandated by the nature of the decision. 

2. If your organization is not political, you will never win by falling on one side or another in a political circumstance. It's a guaranteed loss, regardless of your intent. 

3. Decisions with weak rationales fail the public sniff test. No one believed that this new policy of ending funding for "organizations under investigation" was targeting anyone other than Planned Parenthood. Which is not to say that they didn't have the right to make it; they did. It was their explanation that exacerbated the problem. 

Komen did recognize the reality of their untenable position, apologize and reverse course quickly. That was smart. Their statement today is right on target. It's all they can do today... be contrite, and find the positive in the storm. 

But this isn't over yet. Someone is going to lose their job. Depending on the kind of statement the board wants to make, they will either resign or be fired. It will take a day to a week, depending on how resolute their Board is in acting, and the specifics of the underlying circumstance. But we do need a human sacrifice before we can all move on. Ironic, isn't it?