Paul Jacobson

How does your company handle bad news?  Do you or your managers circle the wagons and pretend that everything is just fine?  Do they keep bad news a secret in the hope that no-one will notice?  Or do they let their employees know the bad news and enter into a debate about the news?

If your company doesn't hide bad news and involves its employees in its efforts to address that bad news, does that transparency benefit the company?

Why am I asking these questions?  Well, I know of a couple companies that ignore the cancers within and carry on regardless of its ultimate effect.  These companies are usually about as transparent as a brick wall and see no reason to change.  I am convinced that greater transparency and trust is key to addresses the problems that companies face and to thriving in otherwise difficult times.