
Ask HN: Is Transparency Bad for Business? - gitgud
I&#x27;ve always idolised Open-source development and some of the greatest software systems are open-source.<p>Within the business realm, some companies strive to have transparency within their operations. I appreciate it, but I&#x27;m not sure it&#x27;s the best tactic, as secrecy builds hype and instills a sense of confidentiality.<p>So I&#x27;m wondering if people think transparency translates to success  in business development? As it can in software development
======
iknownada
IMHO Transparency improves efficiency, innovation and is one of the few
defences against bad managers and systemic problems.

Within an organisation I personally think its good. on certain occasion you
may have need to develop things in secret (from the public or internally). you
can create isolated teams with open communication within them and clear rules
about what is communicated externally - but open rules about why.

Full disclosure though: I probably have base philosophy that tends towards
believing labour and decision making have value and that knowledge cannot be
owned or have value out with its application; this leads me to not want to
long term invest in structures that rely on trying to stop or control the flow
of information.

Basically I would see it as an indicator that a business model is either
unsustainable or exploitative if it relies on this beyond things like project
teams for new tech / HR sensitive changes.

Well to be fair the more common reality is that this is an indicator of
management / governance issues, as keeping the details covered up is great way
to hide failure.

EDIT: Specifically on Hype - I dont think this is the deciding factor, you can
have lots of hype around open and secret projects. I would personally make the
secrecy decision on the chances that i am going to be beat to market or out-
advertised by a bigger player copying the idea (and other similar risks that
may be specific to the project).

------
mathgladiator
So, sometimes secrets are needed. For instance, I have found as a leader that
holding cards close to the vest is important. When one has implicit power,
everything said has weight. For instance, if I started to talk openly about a
reorg, then people freak out.

Transparency then is bad if it introduces chaos.

