Transparency - Will You Know It When You See It?

I've talked before about one of the blogs I follow. It's a blog by a fellow named David Grandeau and is available at David Grandeau and Associates for those of you who may be interested in government and ethics. I like David's approach - straight forward and to the point. In addition, he's had a lot of experience with systems not working well. He talks a lot about openness and transparency in government and has gotten me thinking about its importance generally.

New York State, like the federal government and many states, has had Open Meetings laws and Freedom of Information legislation for decades. Because of that, we sometimes forget the struggle and how hard it was to get people to recognize the importance of transparency and ultimately the involvement of stakeholders. I remember the Pentagon Papers, the Nixon 'watch' list, FBI files and the rest. All of these had a part in the changing relationship between government and the governed. But it was and has been a struggle and in the end, is always about power.

Now everyone talks about transparency as if they all believe in it and as if everyone knows what it is. What I find interesting is that in those all knowing conversations, it's usually about 'the other guy' or somebody else. For many years I've watched non-profit organizations struggle with or ignore this issue depending on the organization. My own view is that the people who struggle with the issue are in much better shape then the people who ignore it. Many organizations take the position that because they are a non-profit agency, they aren't covered by the Open Meetings and Freedom of Information legislation. Technically they may be right but they certainly miss the point about transparency and accountability. Great organizations know almost intuitively that openness and communication are a requirement of their operations and ultimately will help them get things done.

Some organizations also misuse executive sessions on a regular basis - not following a best practice of having very specific guidelines for calling them or convening them, again usually responding that "we aren't covered by guidelines imposed by the Open Meetings law." I do want to be clear. Many non-profits do the right thing and struggle to do the right thing through open and honest discussions about this issue. There are a few that really do abuse the issue and at the same time want everyone else to be transparent.

Now the reality is that transparency is really more like clear plastic wrap. You know, that stuff you fight with to wrap the kid's sandwiches or that you use to cover the left overs in a bowl. It's sticky and doesn't necessarily follow your directions well. And when it gets all bunched up you can't see through it anyway. Well that's why this transparency discussion is so tough. It really is hard. It's harder if the law hasn't gotten to you yet and you're just trying to do the right thing. In my view, the right thing has to do with two things - accountability and the involvement of stakeholders. Where do the Open Meetings laws come from? Where does Sarbanes-Oxley come from? Where does the anger of the Tea Party and Occupy Wall St come from? Accountability and the involvement of stakeholders is a common theme and thread.

There certainly is a need for privacy in some conversations and deliberations. There certainly is a need for caution in the sharing of certain information. But the discussions about these challenges have to be held in the open and stakeholders have to be able to weigh in. People respect other people trying to do the right thing. When shields go up, mistrust builds and secrecy takes over on both sides of the wall that's created.

Another interesting thing that happens is that projects by secretive or closed organizations usually fail. It's also usually painful to watch because negative energy takes over. All of this points out that transparency and openness, or at least the struggle to discuss it and perhaps fight about it, are additional requirements for great leaders and great organizations. It's hard work but it leads to results. I worked in an organization where it was a known value and it brought results every day. I'm glad we have people like Dave Grandeau continuing to pressure government entities on these issues. I hope I've added a little to the discussion that should take place in non-profit organizations. I'm also pleased that there are many non-profits who do get the importance of transparency.