Transparency ain't what it used to be. . .

'Transparency' or the notion of it, is not so simple.

A couple months ago, I relayed to my then 17 (now 18) year old that we would be going on the trip that I mentioned to her about 5-6 weeks previously.

Her response was, "You didn't tell me[!]"

My reply: "Well, I am telling you now that it is confirmed and I mentioned it to you last month. . ." Simple, right? . . .not so.

From there, she proceeded to share that she had to plan and needed to figure out what she was going to do with her friends, with her part-time job, etc. This was the most forward thinking I had seen (or at least that she has explicitly exposed) in a while. I was impressed (head nodding).

What I missed and sure I have missed is getting clear about what transparency is for me, in relationship with what it might need to be for others. As much perspective-taking as I have worked to practice, I don't ever recall thinking about this topic as it pertains to varying perceptions of what transparency is and means personally, and how that changes either by age, perhaps generation, situation, you name it. It is a highly relative term; an idea of immense variation. What do we know about our closest associates, team members, even family members' relationship with the notion of transparency? Have we ever asked what they feel they need to know and when?

In the case of my niece, it was about having a shared context about things happening in her life -- in our lives. And, that in this instance, she didn't have much control of it. She was fine with this (or so it seems). 

What she wasn't fine with (at least as the start of the list) was my not quickly sharing things that might impact her social network (analog and digital). That is important to her and it didn't occur to me that it mattered until after observing her response.

Organizations need to be transparent with Gen Z -- Raghav Bahl

My lessons:

1) Your people (like my 18 year old Gen Z niece) want transparency relevant to their context, needs, priorities.

2) Your people/teams/adjacent stakeholders (often) do not want to know things they don't need to know. And, we need to get clear about what's important to them and how to best assure it is shared in a meaningful manner.

If you would like to join me, I am trying out the following as I work to get a better grasp at how to be radically transparent:

• Always ask yourself if you have consulted with those (maybe even some you don't know well) who might elevate an idea via their experience. 
• Always be engaged and sharing with those impacted in ways that are most relevant to the individual, group, or team you are communicating with.
• Check-in and get feedback about what you are sharing or if possible, not sharing. (e.g. Are people feeling like they are getting info too late in the project cycle?)

Transparency has implications up and down the organizational hierarchy and out to customers. It can impact reputation, trust, and productivity. Getting it right is critical to success on many levels.

In organizational life it can be a bit like the story of the blind men and the elephant. The difference is our people know there is an elephant. So they are not blind to the reality that there are consistently massive amounts of shift going on throughout an enterprise, by geography, business unit, product vertical, etc. They generally don't wish to see and in some cases are blinded from seeing the whole elephant. They do however want to see deeply into the parts of the elephant in their care and implications (when immediately or imminently relevant) how other connecting parts influence their own and vice versa. Figuring this out and doing it well could reveal something extraordinary.

Perhaps transparency ain't so new after all?