After delivering a workshop recently on communications planning, the question time that followed kept raising the same issue... Sometimes things go wrong; positions change and there's a 'need' to go back on something that was said before. While this may sometimes be inevitable, it was a little alarming to hear it come up quite so often in the discussion of people's recent experiences. Changing your position, doing or saying something 'off-message' or, worst of all, being caught in a lie are all very bad things for credibility internally and externally. A few themes came up again and again as the topic was explored: Top down structures where a 'need to know' mentality failed to inform frontline staff, particularly those in public or media-facing roles... Confusion about brand identity & company values and an almost universal lack of any formal crisis planning before a crisis was actually underway. It's never too early to plan - or to review your plan to ensure it meets current business needs and fits with reality. Don't wait until something goes wrong!