Long Live Radical Transparency

Submitted by Aaron Pava on April 15, 2007 - 6:03pm.

In the new issue of Wired (15.04), Clive Thompson exposes the crazy world of "radical transparency".

"Not long ago, the only public statements a company ever made were professionally written press releases and the rare, stage-managed speech by the CEO. Now firms spill information in torrents, posting internal memos and strategy goals, letting everyone from the top dog to shop-floor workers blog publicly about what their firm is doing right - and wrong."

From day one, CivicActions has done our best to be as open as possible. Sharing process documents, proposals, potential RFPs with "competitors", and of course, blogging as time permits. It's exciting to see the meme which has been thriving in "start-up culture" begin to reach into established "corporate" culture in such a short period!

An interesting an key point
Submitted by GregoryHeller on April 19, 2007 - 1:53pm.

An interesting an key point made in both Clive Thompson's article and Fred Vogelstein's on Microsoft's Channel 9 which followed on the next page is the importance of authenticity in addition to transparency. Transparency, radical or otherwise, only works if it is truly authentic.

At CivicActions (within and externally) I think that we strive to not only be transparent but also to be authentic in our interactions. Authenticity and trust are the new currency in an era of radical transparency.

The implications for transparency, not only at the corporate level, but more importantly at the government level are vast. I think that in this upcoming presidential election cycle we will see some of the most transparent campaigning ever, and hopefully it will usher in a new era of government transparency.