I am a firm believer that transparency is the best approach a company can take to improve its culture.
We are used to hearing about the “Need to know basis”. What if we change this?
What if instead we use “Cannot know basis”. Let me explain.
You will only not be able to know something if you truly cannot know about it.
For example :
- Any business deals that cannot be shared before they are done.
- Security information cannot be shared with everyone.
- Personal information from employees and/or customers that would invade their privacy.
We should change the paradigm.Instead of showing the information that you need to do your job (which looks like the other stuff is being hidden away when in reality there is no point in it), we openly say what is being “hidden” and the reason why you cannot access that information.
This eliminates one of the biggest wastes we have in any organization. Office Politics. If anything that can be out in the open is out in the open, then there is no place for office politics. You cannot try to sell politics when everyone can have access to that information and see for themselves.
This quote sums it up
Sunlight is the best disinfectant
Try radical transparency.
Go for “cannot know basis” and see how your culture improves over time.
Cheers,
3 thoughts on “Radical Transparency”