The document discusses creating a more transparent and collaborative work environment. It argues that a top-down hierarchy with siloed information sharing hinders progress, while a flat structure with open information flow between departments promotes innovation and faster progress. It then outlines key benefits of transparency like faster problem solving and higher trust/performance. The rest of the document provides examples of companies that have embraced transparency in areas like strategy, structure/culture, compensation, and personal goals/habits. It acknowledges transparency takes courage but inspires the audience that it is achievable and has worked well for companies like Semco.

1. Imagine a working environment with a top down hierarchy, where people work in
silos, where information is not shared between departments, where communication
is on a need to know basis, where progress is hindered by bureaucracy and internal
politics, where employees are unmotivated, unengaged and uninspired.
Now imagine a working environment with a simple, flat organisation structure, where
there is openness and respect and no secrets, where information flows easily
between people and departments, it is entrepreneurial & innovative where changes
are be implemented quickly .
new products and services to get to market is faster, where employees love coming to
work, where productivity and revenue are market leading, resulting in happier
stakeholders and a positive environment.
Hands up who would prefer the first scenario?
1

2. Hands up who would prefer the second scenario?
2

3. Lets be honest here
Hands up whose workplace is more like the first?
Hands up whose workplace is more like the second?
Look around… that’s where you want to work!
And stick around because today I’m going to share how you can achieve a more open,
transparent, collaborative working environment where employees are engaged,
motivated and inspired on a daily basis.
What I am going to say is radical - This will challenge you outside your comfort zone,
I will challenge your thinking.
It will challenge your behaviours even more
but I will share, the benefits, tools and techniques to make it happen
It has worked in many orgs but not many have the guts to truly embrace it
3

4. What is transparency?
For me –
Is a situation in
which business and financial activities are done in an open way without secrets,
so that people, inside and outside can trust that they are fair and honest
What are the benefits
4

5. Why Do it -??
1 Problems Are Solved Faster
Everyone learns more about one another and can grow to work toward solving
problems faster when everyone is transparent
Reduces Politics – so much time debating & gossiping about what outcomes might
happen, about who said what, why you cant do or say such and such a thing
Years ago, remember coming across a show stopper issue for a payments project for a
bank. Raised the issue with project manager, who said we could not change the
project from green to red status because we were green last month, could not move
to red as that would look as if project was not being managed well. I ignored that
“advice” and told the business sponsor the truth although he didn’t like the news it
was far better than waiting another two months to hear about it and act on it.
When communication channels are open, decisions can be made on facts and data
and having the trust of others to take action, making mistakes in the way of progress
is accepted as it is underpinned by transparency and
5

6. 5

7. 2. People Begin to Promote Trust in Their Leader & Others
When leaders are transparent, people can be much more objective in evaluating the
pros and cons about their leader.
If you are transparent, especially during the worst of times, you actually strengthen
your leadership as people begin to trust you as person and thus will gain you more
respect
If you know what you are going to get, if you have trust, respect and a supportive
environment, this encourages people to grow and achieve more
Leading to
6

8. 3. Higher-Levels of Performance Emerge
Each of the previous points is interdependent and builds upon one another.
The more we collaborate, communicate via sharing – drives more questions, answers
and decisions.
This naturally takes us to higher-levels of performance. The formula is simple:
Faster problem solving + trust = higher levels of performance.
It’s really that simple.
how do we achieve these benefits
3 key ingredients - click
7

9. How do we achieve these –
3 Key ingredients of achieving transparency, 3 keys areas to focus on
Especially need all execs, directors managers to buy in to these 100%
These are the Areas where it matters
Going in to these 3 points in more detail
8

10. Business, organization and culture change are hot topics in the corporate world today.
How can you have a transparent strategy
Strategy – need all execs, directors managers to buy in to it
Open up the debate on topics such as -
Employee engagement and culture
How to improve customer service
Research and Development
P&G Connect & Develop – Unilever – Open Innovation challenges – crowdsourcing
their R&D challenges if you have a method or idea they want to hear your thoughts.
There are some scenarios where complete transparency will not work
Maybe would harm a competitive bid
Maybe would affect share price
Legally confidential?
One example
Working on several projects at present where, lots of staff will be affected
Bank projects where – move to paperless, online STP – affects hundreds of jobs –
9

11. cant reveal till after decision made and clear how it will affect them
but need to be transparent about how, why, reasons about decision backed up with
facts.
9

12. Structure & culture includes roles, responsibilities, talent management and core
processes.
It is the organizational engine that produces the results that drive revenues and
profit.
This part of the organization is often not transparent – a complex structure – gives
everyone headaches and delays trying to understand what is allowed, not allowed,
who is to be informed or give approval ?
Also management is uninterested or not empowered to in investing time and
resources to fix it
For many, if it ain’t broke, why fix it?
Like an car that runs well, the only time to look under the bonnet is when there is a
problem.
By then, troubles can run deep.
10

13. One of those --- ooh that’s gonna cost ya…
This is a major area of opportunity for transparency.
10

14. Social skills to be transparency
is the most challenging.
We all have something to hide, something to prove and something to lose. If you are
not being transparent ask yourself why? Why not? Is there a reason why I cant share
this?
Transparency demands a personal willingness to let yourself be vulnerable.
Allow your self to publicly ask stupid questions – that fear or insecurity of getting
something wrong and people noticing.
Do it – Stand up - Define what you want to be known for, your values – what are you
all about – what do you like and don’t like.
Your personal online and work personality is all about who you are and what you
want to be known for.
How do I make people feel?
How do people benefit by working with me?
What words do others use to describe me?
11

15. What service do I have to offer people?
What do I do that makes me stand out from everyone else?
personal transparency is what truly builds trust.
People will follow and respect people who operates with an attitude of “what you see
is what you get,” even if the leader has bad news to deliver.
11

16. We are experiencing cultural shift
We have witnessed in the past big technology trends, email, internet, I remember
when not everyone was allowed email… then not everyone was allowed internet –
both times the argument was no ROI, were seen as a time waster with no value -
sound familiar??
Now it is
social media, mobile – we have more computing power and tools at home and they
are making their way in the workplace
Is being embraced in personal lives
What this cultural shift brings is that people are used to sharing being more
transparent at home with friends on facebook, Instagram, twitter etc – but
communication in the workplace is email, meetings, conference calls etc
Default to open – we are used to Open conversations
Yet at work most workplaces are still using outdated tools –
12

17. What to watch out for – what are the problems with lack of transparency with emails
and meetings?
12

18. What is wrong with email – ask the audience
Email – 1-1 or 1-many tool
Some of the problems of email – 1 -1 sometimes 1-m but not inclusive – not a
conversation – is a transmit only – very inclusive and not designed for mass
collaboration and mass conversations
Terrible for debate or sharing ideas – extremely poor collaboratively
what is it used mostly for?
Please avert your eyes for this one…
Email’s prime use is cover your ass.. CYA
An Insurance policy.
13

19. Starbucks meetings – excuse for coffee, chinwag
Meetings are a virus…
Closed shop, not everyone involved – meetings minutes rare
Slow and inefficient way to communicate
With social tools you get involved in other interesting conversations you didn’t know
about, not aware of
If you are having a meeting share with others who you are meeting and what it was
about, share insights, progress and decisions openly
14

20. Ask the audience
Barriers to transparency ?
Think it is achievable?
Are you..
–not going to happen a my place ?
Or you are all – lets do this!!!!
Well just say lets give you some inspiration, tools and techniques.
Mgt Trend or fad
15

21. Now is this a trend or a fad…?
Most people silently applaud it,
want to it to be there
But don’t think it can be done – phew no chance – that will never happen here –
It is is not new idea, if you haven’t tried it before it is hard, takes guts
Transparency is a decision to relinquish some control of your organization, your
strategy and even your personal reputation. That’s why it takes guts.
The upside is that it is so uncommon, people will respect it, even if some will try
advantage of you for it. The upsides are way better than upsetting a minority
Are you a trailblazer to try this new way ? – it takes guts outside comfort zone
Question audience - how are you feeling about this?
16

22. DO YOU FEEL VulnerabLE?
What would happen if yout tried it?
16

23. Barriers to adoption – good points –
Can you give me examples of companies you know that are transparent?
I know you are here thinking I have all the answers…! Joking
17

24. Heres the ones that I thought to share
Culture
8m views
Sandberg – most important doc in the valley
What I liked about it was very clear wht the company was about – what they valued
and didn’t value –
It had personality – the opposite of corporate blandness
Enron mission statement of integrity. Communication, respect and excellence – they
actually went to jail for and had those values in their lobby.
Open about what they let people go for – fire them for not having the values
Open about how to keep great talent
Public – hard worker – a effort b performance = good reward minimal effort A
performance more valued
Brilliant Jerks – not tolerated too inconsistent and affect teams too much to be worth
it
transparent for people before you join – aspirational you know what it will be like
18

25. before you join
18

26. Compensation
At Buffer, employees know everything about everyone else: how much they make,
salaries are published – so the algorithm
for bonuses and what their equity is worth
They created a formula for how salaries are calculated and added it to a Wiki page
for everyone on the team to
see.
Why?
One, to truly commit to our value of transparency. Others can edit it on a wiki.
Joel, co-founder, emailed everyone and said, "I truly believe that transparency breeds
trust, that's one of the key reasons for this adjustment.“
The trouble with keeping salaries a secret is that it's usually used as a way to avoid
paying people fairly. And
that's not good for employees -- or the company.
Two, it made hiring new people for the team a lot easier
19

27. as a culture fit, became an aspirational place to work and yes, you
guessed it, more transparent.
In fact they could tell potential employees how much they would earn before getting
into any other details. They
just ran through the formula and came up with the number.
happy, motivated employees who are doing work they love and feel they are being
treated as adults don't
gripe about money unless their pay is hugely unfair.
If you hear a lot of complaints about salaries, I suspect that's probably a
manifestation of a much bigger disease: Your employees aren't deriving enough
personal satisfaction from their work, or they are miserable for other reasons.
It takes a lot of salary to make up for a cruel boss or a prisonlike workplace.
And rather than adjusting pay, you might choose to focus on some non=monetary
ways to make employees happy.
Happy employees make better products and provide better customer service and will
make your company
successful and profitable. And success allows you to pay workers better.
One other extreme example of transparency at Buffer – is they share--even how
much they sleep.!!
One of the key values at Buffer is to work smarter, not harder.
They recently gave everyone at Buffer a Jawbone UP wristband. It allows you to
automatically track your
sleep, your daily steps, your nutrition, and a lot more.
Personal improvement is a big part of that, so giving employees a tool that can help
improve their sleep patterns is a no-
brainer. in it's already had an incredible effect. Browsing everyone's sleep
patterns and talking about how to get more deep sleep has an amazing effect on
productivity.
They’ve also implemented a daily personal improvement program.
They track it using the productivity app IDoneThis:
Every day everyone logs what they've done, what they're doing, and what they
improved upon.
Here are some recent examples:
19

28. Four-day streak of getting up at 6 a.m.
Back to 10 minutes of consistent daily meditation.
Switched to audio books instead of music and now learn on the commute to work
At nooQ - We have taken on the OKR - objectives and key results - principle from
Google and Apple – which weekly we share our big hairy
goals, lessons learned, what you have done, what you are excited by, what can be
improved
Lots of companies talk about just what was done.
Sharing aspirations and what you enjoyed most is a huge insight to what makes
people tick.
Since improvements are shared company wide, it's a great way to get support and
encouragement and team building – commit to a big goal publicly
Granted health,sleeping patterns and salary information is maybe a bit extreme I
wanted to make you
aware of approaches to transparency – last example to draw some inspiration from …
Semco
19

29. There are no job titles and no personal assistants.
People set their own salaries. Everybody shares in the profits.
That sounds like a recipe for disaster, or at least chaos,
but Semco has grown consistently for the last twenty years despite
being located in one of the most volatile economies in the world.
The story of Semco and its majority shareholder, Ricardo Semler, is
"... his father handed him control of the family's small Brazilian company, Semco, a
maker of industrial machinery.
With the company in dire straits, Semler (at age 22) responded radically.
He fired most of 60% of the top managers and got rid of the management layers;
there are now three.
He eliminated nearly all job titles.
There's still a CEO, but a half-dozen senior managers trade the title every six months,
in March and September.
20

30. Executives set their own pay, and everyone in the company knows what everyone
else makes.
All workers set their own hours.
Every employee receives the company's financial statements, and the labour union
holds classes on how to read them.
Workers choose their managers by vote and evaluate them regularly, with the results
posted publicly.
it's sounds all insane, certainly in the 1980s it was almost unheard of bar WM Gore
where the
inspiration came from – and possible an extreme reaction to build the opposite of his
father ?
except that it worked.“
Under his ownership, revenue grew
from US$4 million in 1982 to US$212 million in 2003 and his innovative
business management policies have attracted widespread interest around the world
After another severe recession in 1985 with government restrictions on borrowing
capital – workers committee
suggested 3principles suggested to survive
To do that was based around 3 principles – 1. Profit sharing amongst employees –
management same rules as employees.
First, the profit-sharing percentage would be increased until salaries could be
restored.
Second, management would take a forty percent cut in salary.
And, third, the workers would get the right to approve every expenditure..
In the plants, workers started handling multiple job duties and using their knowledge
of how the factory worked to come up with new
procedures that saved time and money. At one factory they divided themselves into
three manufacturing units of about 150 people each. Each unit had complete
responsibility for manufacturing, sales, and financial management.
The new Semco was being born.
The autonomous team idea was adopted throughout the company. As it evolved the
teams began
hiring and firing both workers and supervisors by democratic vote.
What I impressed me about this..
20

31. free access to all financial and other information for everybody with the
company,
about on third of the annual profits are being shared among all employees,
top-down and bottom-up bi-annual evaluation process of all employees,
major decision making on a voting base,
working hours and pay levels are set and justified through company-internal supply
and demand principles,
job swapping/rotation for about 20-25% of all managerial employees per year,
three organizational levels from chairman to manufacturing associate.
More remarkable –
With very few exceptions most of the dramatic ideas came from someone other than
Ricardo Semler.
His genius has been in holding to a general concept of empowerment and allowing
and supporting changes that could easily
have been viewed as taking away his power.
Semco's units are limited to 150-200 people.
That's something of a magic number in sociological, management and
anthropological studies. Dunbar’s number
It's the largest group that a human being can feel a part of and that can create a
social context that affects behavior.
Dunbar said "The figure of 150 seems to represent the maximum number of
individuals with whom we can have a genuinely social relationship, the kind of
relationship that goes with knowing who they are and how they relate to us." That
number appears again and again in studies of communities, of effective plant sizes
and effective military units.
Semco is private but Semler reports average annual revenue growth at 40%
20

32. You might not go that far but here are some events you can do at your own company
to get started
Open Innovation – open up a list of challenges your business faces
Suggest topics on growth, strategy, customer service, marketing, innovation Open it
up to the public, publish them on the web
If that is too revealing, open them up to partners and suppliers, universities – push it
a little outside
your normal routes and channels – speak to others in other industries, gather a wide
range of opinions and perspectives
CLICK
Crowdsourcing ideas – simple way to share your ideas, new products or services –
gather feedback
on current products or services – brainstorm fresh ideas or methods
Challenge your current ways of thinking, ask challenging questions
21

33. Get really fresh ideas – run a startup competition – get local or national startups to
pitch to solve problems
Do it properly – being Cynical about it, exploiting startup’s need for cash – but be
careful many will see thru it wont enter if prize and value of time to enter is not
worth it
Startup competition that has 1000 grand prize – 3 regional heats, 500 for 2nd and
250 for third – takes several days plus 1-3 weeks preparation = pointless and damages
your brand – top startups wont enter.
Hackathons are not free software code for pizza and redbull.
21

34. Ask yourself – whenever you are doing something ?
Why can’t I share this with everyone?
Working out loud
Working Out Loud starts with making your work visible in such a way that it might
help others.
When you do that – when you work in a more open, connected way – you can build a
purposeful network that makes you more effective and provides access to more
opportunities.”
Making your work visible: this is indeed the fundamental starting point for working
out loud.
Making work better: One of the main reasons for openly narrating your work is to
find ways to improve it. You’re publishing so other people will see it, including some
who can provide useful feedback, connections, or other things that will make your
work better.
22

35. Leading with generosity: By framing your posts as contributions – as opposed to, say,
efforts at self-promotion or personal branding – you’re more likely to engage other
people. You’re not just looking for help but offering to help others, too. “The currency
of real networking is not greed but generosity.”
Building a social network: As you work out loud over time, you’ll be interacting with a
broader range of people. The further you develop relationships with people in your
network, the more likely it will be that you’ll collaborate with them and that they’ll be
willing help you in other ways.
Making it all purposeful: Finally, since there’s an only a certain amount
of contributing and connecting you can do, you need to make it purposeful in order
to be effective. (Goals might be as simple as “I want more recognition in my firm.” or
“I’d like to explore opportunities in another industry or location.”) having a goal in
mind focuses your learning, your publishing, and value for your connections.
22

36. Take a small step 5x50 – heard of that?
27 days to change a habit
Found it on twitter. – basically a fitness challenge to do 5k everyday for 50 days. After
21-27 days becomes a habit.
I want to encourage you to make the tiny, daily choices that support transparency.
Things to try –
Spark a debate –
e.g- continuous improvement – name 3 things we should stop doing, 3 things we
should do more of
Share an idea – transparency
Ask for volunteers to get involved
Work on it with on linked in - HR, a community of colleagues and outsiders
- anyone interested
Publish a blog
Promote it
Share it outside your organisation – linked-in, twitter, industry meet ups
Get involved – conference attendees, speakers
23

37. Be truthful about a person’s performance.
Share the real numbers behind why a decision was made Express your concern about
how something could make you or the company look bad.
Invite a different kind of person to participate in your strategic planning or other key
decision-making
situations.
Don’t beat your self up if it fails, get up try again
23

38. Now we have covered what it is
The benefits
Inspiratonal examples
How to do it
Now onto the techniques and tools
24

39. Given the definition
Techniques
1st Technique – Start small
While your company is still small and dynamic, that's the time to make it radically
transparent
By starting early, you weave that culture into your company's DNA and attract people
that are inspired by you before they start
If not a startup or small company –
Start with Small teams, company – groups.
Start with one topic or goal
But think big
25

40. Take Issues One At A Time
When creating a radically transparent business, Smith recommends incremental
exposure. "Thinking about it all as a whole is very difficult and very daunting," he
says.
Instead, each time you would typically hide information, ask yourself, "Why can't I
share this with everyone?" Unless someone comes up with a strong argument against
it, always opt for openness.
Don’t beat yourself up if you fail – try again
26

41. 3. Make time to explain your logic.
As a radically transparent leader, you must be honest and fair.
Employees need to understand how you came to your decisions and why.
"You do need to spend a huge amount of time with your team explaining everything,"
Atkinson says. The extra time will pay off--ultimately, your effort will inspire trust and
loyalty.
27

42. 4. Clearly outline the steps for advancement.
Be clear on the path
The path for what is measured and important, the path for bonuses and promotions.
Publish it, share it and allow anyone to comment and add improvements
28

43. Making traditionally private information available naturally stirs up discomfort.
"A lot of times it's uncomfortable because it's never been done before,“
Or it might make yourself look stupid or show up mistakes
asks yourself if sharing that information would help or empower your employees.
If it would, do it. Once it's out in the open, discomfort quickly fades.
29

44. First gen – social collaboration software for teams – sharepoint, yammer, jive, chatter
Google Hangouts, Google + communities,
HipChat – group IM Google + the same – group IM
Medium for blogs
Newer technology – group chat & collab SLACK
Best of all nooQ – we do things a little differently, much better for transparency,
searching, personalised feeds rather than a lot of noise.
30

45. Start a Community
Crowdsource Ideas
Involve others
Engage and debate transparency
Discuss opportunities for improvement
Diverse range of opinions
31

46. Once upon a time, there was an old man who used to go to the ocean to do his
writing.
He had a habit of walking on the beach every morning before he began his work.
Early one morning, he was walking along the shore after a big storm had passed and
found the vast beach littered with starfish as far as the eye could see, stretching in
both directions.
Off in the distance, the old man noticed a small boy approaching.
As the boy walked, he paused every so often and as he grew closer, the man could
see that he was occasionally bending down to pick up an object and throw it into the
sea.
The boy came closer still and the man called out, “Good morning! May I ask what it is
that you are doing?”
The young boy paused, looked up, and replied “Throwing starfish into the ocean. The
tide has washed them up onto the beach and they can’t return to the sea by
themselves,” the youth replied.
“When the sun gets high, they will die, unless I throw them back into the water.”
32

47. The old man replied,
“But there must be tens of thousands of starfish on this beach. I’m afraid you won’t
really be able to make much of a difference.”
The boy bent down, picked up yet another starfish and threw it as far as he could into
the ocean. Then he turned, smiled and said, “It made a difference to that one!”
32

48. I would hope you will take inspiration and though from the starfish story
Remember the tips
3 key ingredient – strategy – structure and social skills
The techniques –
Start Small
Take Issues One At A Time
Make time to explain your logic
Clearly outline the steps for advancement
Question Your Discomfort
The tools – only need to remember one of them
But with
that you will be inspired to create the kind of workplace we all aspire to
33

49. Remember that workplace – it is achievable – download the guide
34

50. I am big fan of twitter & linked-in – follow, tweet, mention – I will be glad to help
And do get in touch if we can help – my email address is there
If you want to download these slides – go to our website
nooQ that boring old workplace And SPARK THAT CHANGE
35