Too simple? Too easy?
What do you say?

This post was mentioned on Twitter by CommAMMO: MUST READ. quite thought-provoking. RT @paulseaman: On my PR blog now: Transparency is the new opaque? http://bit.ly/2KWSsv…

“In today’s communication environment, information WILL become available, and the real question is which will be most damaging: the information itself or the fact you chose not to share it. The only protection against the latter is a justifiable and defendable communication record.”

– I’d offer that the situation and objectives matter most in that calculus. The information we release that is relevant to our situation and in line with our objectives is most important. There is a giant pool of information that we could release (in the name of “transparency”), but if it’s irrelevant to the public in question, there’s no point — all we’re doing is increasing the distraction level. There surely is a class of information that requires so much context, explanation and understanding that it deserves its own strategy.

Marc’s comment, also, regarding self-interest, is interesting — we typically have something we want our publics to think, feel or do as a consequence of our communication. The communication activity has to have a goal — otherwise, it’s just noise.

S.

I have a friend who is delightfully inappropriate in her communication skills, asking for or providing the most inappropriate information at the most inappropriate times. She has mastered the principle, but consistently fails the practice. She is not a professional communicator, fortunately.

The principle of transparency applies to any decision to make additional information publicly available, assuming the same underlying ethos (we will provide all the information we can as soon as we can). In practice, information and context have to ride the same horse – so recipients can understand, assimilate and act on the information provided. We need the bias to communicate, and the wisdom to communicate appropriately.

The rub is that we usually apply self interest to the equation, and make communication decisions based on our needs rather than our stakeholders’ needs. This is where we get caught being opaque (the opposite of transparent?). Borrowing Peter’s argument, we need to make accountable decisions that can be explained (or defended as necessary), in the context that we will communicate.

In today’s communication environment, information WILL become available, and the real question is which will be most damaging: the information itself or the fact you chose not to share it. The only protection against the latter is a justifiable and defendable communication record.

If we can all get to a ‘will communicate’ practice, our profession and ethics should guide the actual practice of communication.

Werner Erhard’s EST sought to unburden people from the concept of concern for others in their interactions — calling someone an a$$hole, for example, was lauded as simply being honest.

Amanda Chapel is fond of saying that PR and advertising is, at heart, lying — with the receiver knowing that this lying is happening and agreeing to listen and be moved nonetheless. Can you imagine the chaos if banks, for example, had their books open constantly for review? Short-term thinking would seem a halcyon past by comparison. The ability to focus on one aspect and dissuade people from looking at others might be somewhat opaque, and even be called lying — but isn’t that the essence of persuasion?

Finally, if everyone is transparent, how will we make sense of the gargantuan stream of undifferentiated information? We already are dangerously close to true overload, when we trust no source but our own tribe regardless of authority, education, fact or opinion. Transparency will make this problem more difficult, not easier if it’s taken too far.

Quite thought-provoking.

Sean
@commammo

Public Relations is a management function and like all management functions what it does and the way that it does it must be accountable – it is accountability that we need as part of the tool kit of governance. Transparency no matter how you define the concept is not accountability though there are some, particularly in government and among the NGO’s who would have you believe the two are interchangeable.

Transparency is not the opposite deception of transparency – that’s honesty. Deceitful and duplicitous people and organisations should be held to account not asked to be transparent.

There is plenty of evidence to show that you can’t change behaviour just by providing more information – being transparent about energy consumption, CO2 emissions, fat or salt content at best it will stimulate awareness and as they say at MIT ‘a latent propensity to action’. It is why public relations as a management function is so successful. It is the function that creates the bridge between a latent propensity and action.

Let’s attempt to be open and honest in all we do, recognising , like Lord Chersterfield that that there are good reasons for there being sensible limits but let’s make sure that in all we do we can be held accountable and are prepared to be accountable. That’s good business, that’s good public relations practice.

Peter L. Walker