transparency

by dawn ~ June 4, 2007

In March, Wired magazine had an entire issue about corporate transparency. This article was advocating the need for corporate CEOs to be more honest and upfront about issues — ala the Microsoft Channel 9 project.

I like the idea of transparency. I think it keeps us honest. However, when is transparency too much transparency? Do I really want to know that the male CEO of my favorite social networking site wears women’s underwear or that the female developer at a site I love is drinking cosmopolitans while she writes code?

There is a point when it is all too much, too much information (TMI). It’s cool that you tell me that you screwed up and made a mistake in the code and now there is a gaping hole in security and it needs to be fixed. I get that. We all make mistakes — and we fix them. Tell me what is happening, what you’re doing to fix it, and when it will be fixed (give me a good timeline — not one you *hope* will happen). That gives me time to make adjustments and to determine if the issue is one that I need to take action on.  But I don’t need to know too much about their personal lives on their corporate blogs.  Maybe they could link to another blog for personal information.

Can you imagine Apple being as transparent as any of this? I mean, they do admit mistakes. But they are hyper-secretive. In fact, the latest development on the iPhone is that it *may* be in stores on June 29th. How is that for hype? We’re gonna be a little transparent, give you a taste, but we’re not sure that it’s really real yet. Mwah-ha-ha.

I can just imagine if any of these people worked in academia. Seriously. Everything we do is transparent. If someone wants to know how much I make, they can find that out. If someone wants to know the type of research going on, they just have to ask. Since we are funded with public monies, we are required to be transparent. It’s always been like that.

So, where are Arizonan’s funds going to in my department? We’re sharing information. Check out some of the cool conference sessions that were held two weeks ago: e-Learning Institute.