When Anne Mulcahy was selected by the Xerox board of directors in 2001 to serve as the company’s new president and CEO, she contacted a number of people requesting advice as she began to assume her new duties.

When facing a crisis, she said the best advice she received was this:

1. Get the cow out of the ditch

2. Find out how the cow got in the ditch.

3. Make certain it never happens again.

Excellent advice indeed.