Tribune Co: I Sams What I Sams

Kevin Roderick's recent evaluation of Sam Zell's internal memo addressing the profanity loogie that the new newspaper baron fired publicly at one of his employees revealed a clear spin strategy.

The memo effectively said, "I did it on purpose, and I did it for the good of us all." Consider:

In some of these meetings, I used language that was deliberately outrageous. My goal was to shock you, to shake you out of complacency, and to help you understand that the game has changed, and we have to change with it. You may not like me or the way I say things, but I'm thrilled and delighted that for the first time, you may actually have an opinion about your CEO.

In other words, "Acting like a jackass was a completely strategic choice. Really."

That explanation leads Jack Flack to believe that Zell is following two basic spin strategies.

#1 -- Ride the mistake. This strategy reprises the old jazz saw that if you make a mistake, play it two or three more times, and everyone will assume you did it on purpose.

#2 -- Be yourself. Asking anyone to conceal their real personality is never effective, but it can be particularly unhelpful with big characters like Zell. Just as you would never ask Big Papi to bunt the runner over, you don't ask Sam Zell to play nice. Instead, the flacks should encourage the boss to follow his instincts, and then be ready to quickly sweep up the inevitable broken glass as it happens.