We’ve all been engaged in discussions about the importance of “transparency.” Apparently, deciding whether or not to be transparent is no longer a question.
From a quick Google search: “let the genie out of the bottle (mainly American) to allow something bad to happen which cannot then be stopped Usage notes: In old Arabian stories, a genie was a magic spirit that would do whatever the person who controlled it wanted. With the Internet, we really let the genie out of the bottle. People now have unlimited access to all manner of material.”
If the Internet let the genie out, WikiLeaks has taken the phrase “let the genie out of the bottle” to a whole new level.
People and companies and organizations have two choices:
1) Don’t say or e-mail anything you don’t want to see shared globally on the internet. (that won’t happen)
2) Have a rigorous, ongoing issue management practice in your organization to stay on top of potential issues. (this must happen)
Everyone in an organization must understand that continuing to believe that potentially embarrassing information can be kept quiet is untenable.
For their own survival and the survival of their organization they must take steps to identify their problems before someone else with an interest in seeing the organization exposed does and work to correct the situation.
My simple promise to clients is, “I can save you time and save you money by helping you find and deal with difficult issues that can affect the reputation of your organization.” This can be done with the help of a proven three step process consisting of Product/Service Stewardship, Issue Management and Crisis Communication.
If you don’t do the first, you’ll wind up doing the second, unless you end up directly in the third.
