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I’ve been watching BP’s television commercials flooding the airways. They provide an impressive narrative on the wide range of actions and the commitment the company is making to clean up the Deep Horizon oil spill disaster.

As I saw my third or fourth ad today while exercising, I wondered how much BP was spending to spread the word about its response as part of its “We will make this right” campaign.

I did a quick Google search and learned that, as of June, BP was spending an estimated $50 million on TV advertising to manage its image, according to the Houston Chronicle. It would be hard to believe that amount hasn’t increased in light of the welcomed “good” news being reported right now about bringing the oil well under control.

Regardless of the final ad spending totals, I would imagine that the advertising costs will far exceed what the company and its partners would have spent to fix the problem and “make it right” before the disaster occurred.

Take a harsh economy, add an unstable personality, mix in daily personal and workplace pressures and toss in a triggering event – small but repeated offenses or cruel indignities. Sometimes the perfect storm will lead to unfathomable tragedy.

We don't know what trigger caused Omar S. Thornton, 34, to open fire and kill nine of his co-workers in Manchester, Conn. We know from news reports that he was losing his job, but thousands lose their job every week for a wide range of reasons and they don’t lead to violence.

I wish the whole world lived by the Prescriptive Rules^®. Have you ever been out with friends and had the deep desire to ask them to Guard their Words and Actions or to Get Help?

I recently facilitated a session for senior leaders of a public utility. In all ways, they were confident that they successfully lived by their values, with one exception: accountability.

Actions may speak louder than words, but few things speak louder than words that are documented.

I've been hearing a lot lately about “The No Complaining Rule: Positive Ways to Deal with Negativity at Work.”

A few months ago, I was speaking to a client who told me there had been incidents of bad practices and ethical issues arising in her workplace.