Replying to LO28933 --
Terri Deems asked some great questions like how is Transparency defined?
Chris Macrae at Transparency Community tries to reply:
WE don't know...its a concept to shape...that's why we're writing a book
of discovery and communally mapping it...aiming to open source a standard
or at least some useful common win-win language...More Specifically
I'm co-authoring a book on Transparency which needs to be completed by end
of October. Your questions are very relevant, and I confess the authors
are partly on a journey of ignorance. We hope we'll get clues from
precisely conversations like yours. That said:
Rather than one definition of transparency, we're collecting all sorts of
challenging ideas on what Transparency CAN DO. Here is a range of
examples:
We don't believe that accounting transparency troubles are confined to a
few corrupt people. What we abhor is that the most expensive type of
professional 1.0 has been defined by their own guru adviser as the
"Monetiser". We want to see the 2.0 Professional as the Transparency-maker
: both in openly sharing knowledge with other professionals and all
co-workers, and openly explaining how every trade an organization makes is
earned and fair. That would be connect with Transparent Strategy.
We also believe that corporate governance primarily by transactional
numbers on cashflow will be seen as a 20th C addiction. There should be
dual auditing: the missing link in Transparency terms is failure to audit
trustflow (if you dont like that word, we're delighted to here what LO
system people call their currency for keeping dynamics of relationships
virtuous)
Transparency also looks at global and local communal responsibilities. So
the top 100 economic powers in the world today are 51 global corporates
and 49 national governments. The people of the world must demand more of a
lead from these 100 top powers in closing poor world critical issues. I
have no time for those extremists in corporate USA who say law requites
CEOs only to look after shareholders. Such people have a double ignorance
because true transparency strategy would now be a competitive advantage,
one that would sustain more value for shareholders too. It may be that one
global advertsiser will need to be the first to dare to move half their
advertising budget over to a real focus on one of the poor world's top 10
critical demands. I bet if they did that first the public would cheer them
in a way that would turn out also to be a more effective promotion.
Equally the system dynamic between government, global corporate and dare I
say mass media seems vicious when we start sketching its dynamics. If you
think its virtuous, show me your sketch!
So Transparency is a revolution pathway for devils like me to advocate.
And should you as angels wish, to harness it -:towards any system or human
thing that concerns you. It should be a very human thing because its
essence is win-win relationship reciprocity, which is the one law that
connects all the world's religions as well as the happiness goal of the
biggest national declaration of united purpose.
Regarding corporates: some small ones are very transparent. Most big ones
have Bush's Responsibility Era to usher in.
http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/releases/wh_remarks.htm
Rather than make any more of my own judgments : one of the books that
started our co-authors on this trail is Profit Beyond Measure by Thomas
Johnson. The way I interpret this book (and I ma be biased) is no big
organization can be transparent unless its leaders know when to
systematically over-rule cashflow accounting, and the authors as of 2000
were only prepared to cite 3 large corporates as probably being in
systematically charge of Transparency .
There are many more debates of this sort to start and circulate around
sub-networks of our Transparency Community at www.valuetrue.com . We
openly seek to promote any bold experiments in achieving the Transparency
Revolution peacefully whilst knowing thine/our enemy which starts within
each of us professionals.
chris macrae wcbn007@easynet.co.uk London 0208 540 5304
PS I dont know how crusades travel fast but expect both hot & cool
protagonists are required: if you prefer cool views instead of
www.valuetrue.com you'll probably prefer
http://www.digital4sight.com/lne.php . Personally speaking I'd like to learn
to be cool by next year but lack of Transparency fires a lot of angry
adrenalin in me right now.
>From: <Tadeems@aol.com>
>
> I am familiar with only 2 organizations that have been described as
> transparent -- Semco, in Brazil, and Cascades, in Canada. Can any of you
> add to this list? And how is "transparent" being defined? In the 2
> companies I've mentioned, their transparency is illustrated, for example,
> by the fact that anyone within the co. can speak to the press at any time
> about the company -- internally or externally, they hold no secrets, and
> conduct themselves as a business in a way which will not lead to public
> embarrassment, etc. Transparency would also include things like open book
> management, I presume.
>
> What can others share?
--"Chris MACRAE" <wcbn007@easynet.co.uk>
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