In the Apology Impulse, Cooper and O'Meara investigate why there's an influx of public apologies and whether they are worth their salt. They analyse high profile cases in the recent past in the US and UK based companies to say what they did right and areas for further improvement. One thing that they noted was that companies readily made apologies when a high-level figure when had made a huge error like in the case of Facebook and Cambridge Analytica.

It has been insightful to read this book in 2020 when some companies received backlash over their slow responses to major issues like the BLM movement. Cooper and O.Meara point out that the delayed response to a major issue may not necessarily mean that the company is not addressing the issue but they are addressing it so that when do take action, it is meaningful. They highlight the role of traditional and social media has taken the role of judge and jury in tackling issues that they may not necessarily be qualified to handle and in some cases, do more harm than good.

The authors urge companies to identify their real audience and recognise situations where they really need to make apologies. Real people exist behind social media handles. Hence, social media users and consumers should be careful in the way that they share information.

While the book did take me a while to get through, I found it quite illuminating and I enjoyed the dry humour. I think The Apology Impulse is an instructive book that everybody with a social media handle should read.

An interesting look at how public corporate apologies have changed, and why. The authors spend most of the book discussing recent (and sometimes older) cases of companies in hot water for various large and small problems. Their conclusion with recommendations is relatively short--one brief chapter at the end--but CEOs and PR managers should take note of their specific steps for sincerely apologizing.

It's too easy to start a conversation with "I'm sorry". Whether than be to your boss, your co-workers or to yourself, we have an impulse to apologize first, with or without meaning it.

The Apology Impulse take a look at the psychological impact behind the need to apologize. Why do public apologies seem so void of feeling? Why do we say it when we don't mean it.

This is a guide book for business, for public figures, and for every single person.

Just. Fantastic. A truly great book reveals a facet of the world - in this case Corporate apologies - that you see often but never truly knew the Matrix facts behind. They are 'the world that has been pulled over your eyes', a 'splinter in your mind'. Evasive, weasley, Schroeder cat type apologies (that exist until you look at them closely) , damaging knee-jerk apologies that hurt the company and refuse to say a real sorry that facilitate healing. I remember saying a few times that I would trust a politician who said a real and proportionate sorry. It's the same for a company.