Transparent or Irresponsible?

People who withhold information from you never have your best interest in mind. Oh, they’ll tell you that they’re trying to protect you – from anxiety, hurt feelings, worry or loss. But what they’re really saying is “You can’t handle the truth. I’m saving you from yourself. And, by the way, I’m afraid of how you’ll react to this information.”

This is controlling, relationship-killing behavior. The same secrets that destroy marriages (I didn’t want to tell you that we have $10,000 in credit card debt because I didn’t want to worry you”) will destroy your business relationships too (I didn’t want to tell you that we’re carrying $10 million in bad debt because I didn’t want to worry you”).

I’m an adult, thank you very much, and I’d like to make my own decisions based on the facts. This is why so many people don’t trust politicians and corporate heads – because they are withholding information in order to manipulate your actions. And this manipulation takes a jackhammer to trust.

Bloggers are looking out for us, though. It didn’t really hit me until I saw the recent firestorm around Jeremiah Owyang’s post about Mzinga and subsequent apology. In a nutshell, Owyang wrote that he had reliable information indicating that Mzinga was in some financial trouble and strongly recommended that “any Mzinga clients or prospects stall any additional movement till they [Mzinga representatives] brief me.” The majority of more than 80 comments lambasted Owyang for speaking out of turn. “Wait for more information,” they said. “You’re an influencer, don’t be so irresponsible.”

But the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to shake Owyang’s hand for taking a risk on our behalf.

I haven’t spoken to Owyang or anyone at Forrester, but here’s what I know: Jeremiah Owyang is someone I have grown to admire and trust. He is smart, insightful and strives to present truthful, helpful, well-thought-out information. He’s not known for risky, impulsive behavior. In his initial post, he was looking out for his clients and anyone else who may be considering establishing or deepening his or her relationship with Mzinga. And that strengthens my trust in him.

Why should presidents, CEOs and high-powered politicians be the only ones who know – and benefit from – important truths? Jon Stewart recently championed for we commoners when he opened fire on popular financial advisor and TV personality Jim Cramer. Blogging gives people who are decidedly less well known than Jon Stewart a platform to offer up information we need to protect our interests.

But my practical, business-minded side says that companies and government agencies can’t make everything public. Complete transparency isn’t likely. In fact, I’m not convinced that it’s even desirable. But I do believe that bloggers have the power to keep more corporations and political entities in check.

So what do you think? Where is the line between transparency and irresponsibility? 

By the way, it turns out that Owyang was right.

Photo credit: Elena Farley via Flickr