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Hub You - The Stress of Secret Keeping
From start-up costs to paying employees, entering the world of small business is not an easy journey for your bank account. After all of the hassles of figuring out how to pay for your initial costs of expenses such as office space and supplies, one large question remains. How do you reach potential consumers? Without a large budget to accommodate the overwhelming costs of advertising in print publications, attracting the attention of buyers can be a serious challenge.However, advertising can be much cheaper than you expect. Any way in which
In a nutshell: keeping secrets prevents the secret keeper from developing perspective based on interactive information.
Without perspective any further action or decision is likely to be flawed. You will almost always look back and say it could have been better, why didn't we notice t
The working environment these days is insecure, and there is no such thing as a job for life any more. While some careers are far more secure than others, such as a profession with rare skills like veterinary surgeon or doctor, generally speaking you should not expect to go into a job for life when you leave college or university. You may not even get the type of job you want in the career that you want.When you start to think about career training, it is probably in your interests to be prepared for alternative careers, or maybe careers that can be moved from
competition: If a competitor gets the right information about a competitor's product or plan
it could literally be the end of that competitor's company.
premature death: If a budding proposal leaks out inside the company or organization
before it is properly prepared and presented it could get killed. This is a
big danger when seeking informal advice from associates.
feeling important: Secret-keeping makes the keepers feel important. Given the high degree
of job insecurity that goes with the territory of high productivity in return for
high wages, feeling important is a powerful need and motivator. Just think
about this for a moment: how do you feel when the memo you receive is stamped
"Confidential, destroy after reading"? What if you were invited to a high level
company meeting at a getaway location, no calls in or out and not to be
discussed with anyone? Secret-keeping is a form of validation.
You could probably add more reasons why keeping secrets is important to your company. Important as secrets may be, however, there is a downside to consider.
The Downside of Secret Keeping First, having to keep secrets is a stress producer. Secondly, keeping secrets is unproductive and obviously diminishes communication in the workplace.
Why stressful, you might ask. The answer is subtle. When we are entrusted with a secret we are not free to talk about it. But that does not mean we never think about it. The natural human process is to talk with one another about our work and about what is running through our minds. The secret keeper, therefore, must constantly be on guard not to do this with the secret. Constantly. That makes thinking about the secret more difficult to turn off and more likely to take center stage in the theater of our mind. No one else know this is happening and therein lies another source of stress: isolation.
The human need and instinct is to find comfort and relief by connecting with one another over matters important. This is all the more true with the people who share work or personal life. Keeping a secret runs against this grain, creating an invisible barrier with the people who matter most.
Unless the secret happens to be of monumental proportions the stress will likely be minimal. The Board tells you in confidence that they are considering end of the year bonuses: not too terribly stressful to keep this secret. Monumental would be if the Pentagon called you to describe a lethal virus being developed which could kill the entire world but you may not tell a single soul. The real stress about secret keeping is that it is always there and, if secret gets piled upon secret, all those little stresses start to add up like snow flurries that won't quit. To paraphrase the late Senator Dirksen about money, "a little stress here and a little stress there and pretty soon it is a lot of stress".
Why unproductive? Secrets are information which cannot be shared. That's the rub: we cannot compare notes, be inspired, work together or contribute additional information and ideas to something we haven't heard about. The secret keeper cannot use the secret in any shared, productive process. If the secret has to do with a problem the secret keeper cannot engage the normal methods of problem solving by involving others for a solution. If the secret has to do with product or market development the important process of brainstorming and bouncing ideas off of others for reality-testing and creative suggestions must be suspended.
In a nutshell: keeping secrets prevents the secret keeper from developing perspective based on interactive information.
Without perspective any further action or decision is likely to be flawed. You will almost always look back and say it could have been better, why didn't we notice th
Remember going to your last trade fair? Remember that small booth where all you have to do is to place your full name, telephone number, address, and email address, and once you do that, you get a free mug with the company name on the mug?Well you didn’t really care what the company is all about right? If it were an electronics company selling hi-tech gadgets, and you weren't into those mumbo jumbo, you would still put your name down and get the free mug.Well those mugs are pretty pricey, about $2-$3 per mug at wholesale cost, which includes the print, t
"Confidential, destroy after reading"? What if you were invited to a high level
company meeting at a getaway location, no calls in or out and not to be
discussed with anyone? Secret-keeping is a form of validation.
You could probably add more reasons why keeping secrets is important to your company. Important as secrets may be, however, there is a downside to consider.
The Downside of Secret Keeping First, having to keep secrets is a stress producer. Secondly, keeping secrets is unproductive and obviously diminishes communication in the workplace.
Why stressful, you might ask. The answer is subtle. When we are entrusted with a secret we are not free to talk about it. But that does not mean we never think about it. The natural human process is to talk with one another about our work and about what is running through our minds. The secret keeper, therefore, must constantly be on guard not to do this with the secret. Constantly. That makes thinking about the secret more difficult to turn off and more likely to take center stage in the theater of our mind. No one else know this is happening and therein lies another source of stress: isolation.
The human need and instinct is to find comfort and relief by connecting with one another over matters important. This is all the more true with the people who share work or personal life. Keeping a secret runs against this grain, creating an invisible barrier with the people who matter most.
Unless the secret happens to be of monumental proportions the stress will likely be minimal. The Board tells you in confidence that they are considering end of the year bonuses: not too terribly stressful to keep this secret. Monumental would be if the Pentagon called you to describe a lethal virus being developed which could kill the entire world but you may not tell a single soul. The real stress about secret keeping is that it is always there and, if secret gets piled upon secret, all those little stresses start to add up like snow flurries that won't quit. To paraphrase the late Senator Dirksen about money, "a little stress here and a little stress there and pretty soon it is a lot of stress".
Why unproductive? Secrets are information which cannot be shared. That's the rub: we cannot compare notes, be inspired, work together or contribute additional information and ideas to something we haven't heard about. The secret keeper cannot use the secret in any shared, productive process. If the secret has to do with a problem the secret keeper cannot engage the normal methods of problem solving by involving others for a solution. If the secret has to do with product or market development the important process of brainstorming and bouncing ideas off of others for reality-testing and creative suggestions must be suspended.
In a nutshell: keeping secrets prevents the secret keeper from developing perspective based on interactive information.
Without perspective any further action or decision is likely to be flawed. You will almost always look back and say it could have been better, why didn't we notice t
Allergies and Asthma are a common concern for families today considering pets, my family included. However, there are some animals available that are hypo-allergenic. This DOES NOT mean that that they are non-allergenic. Hypo-allergenic simply means that they produce fewer allergens, and people with slight to medium strength allergies may be fine with these pets. People with severe asthma and allergies may still have allergic reactions when around pets. In this case, you are better off looking for a pet that is entirely hairless, as there is little to no dander involv
The human need and instinct is to find comfort and relief by connecting with one another over matters important. This is all the more true with the people who share work or personal life. Keeping a secret runs against this grain, creating an invisible barrier with the people who matter most.
Unless the secret happens to be of monumental proportions the stress will likely be minimal. The Board tells you in confidence that they are considering end of the year bonuses: not too terribly stressful to keep this secret. Monumental would be if the Pentagon called you to describe a lethal virus being developed which could kill the entire world but you may not tell a single soul. The real stress about secret keeping is that it is always there and, if secret gets piled upon secret, all those little stresses start to add up like snow flurries that won't quit. To paraphrase the late Senator Dirksen about money, "a little stress here and a little stress there and pretty soon it is a lot of stress".
Why unproductive? Secrets are information which cannot be shared. That's the rub: we cannot compare notes, be inspired, work together or contribute additional information and ideas to something we haven't heard about. The secret keeper cannot use the secret in any shared, productive process. If the secret has to do with a problem the secret keeper cannot engage the normal methods of problem solving by involving others for a solution. If the secret has to do with product or market development the important process of brainstorming and bouncing ideas off of others for reality-testing and creative suggestions must be suspended.
In a nutshell: keeping secrets prevents the secret keeper from developing perspective based on interactive information.
Without perspective any further action or decision is likely to be flawed. You will almost always look back and say it could have been better, why didn't we notice t
The other day a business client said to me, "Why don't I just do this stuff? I know how to do it. I know it needs to be done, but I don't do it."What's it?It is the big rocks in your business that we avoid. It's working in our business and not on it. It's lack of planning, lack of reviewing, lack of analysis. Why don't we do it?For many of us, it's fear. What if I stop long enough to plan? Won't my business get away from me? Won't my clients/customers leave because they see I'm not paying attention? If I don't get to that networking meeti
Why unproductive? Secrets are information which cannot be shared. That's the rub: we cannot compare notes, be inspired, work together or contribute additional information and ideas to something we haven't heard about. The secret keeper cannot use the secret in any shared, productive process. If the secret has to do with a problem the secret keeper cannot engage the normal methods of problem solving by involving others for a solution. If the secret has to do with product or market development the important process of brainstorming and bouncing ideas off of others for reality-testing and creative suggestions must be suspended.
In a nutshell: keeping secrets prevents the secret keeper from developing perspective based on interactive information.
Without perspective any further action or decision is likely to be flawed. You will almost always look back and say it could have been better, why didn't we notice t
Mergers and acquisitions in the business world are often in the news. For every successful case that is reported, there are several failed moves that may never come to light because of the secrecy that usually shrouds the negotiations.Mergers are slightly different from acquisitions. In the former, stockholders of the two companies come together and share interest in the new enlarged entity. Based on the valuation of the companies concerned, the shareholding pattern may change. An example: Company A, which is stronger, and Company B, which is not doing well, me
In a nutshell: keeping secrets prevents the secret keeper from developing perspective based on interactive information.
Without perspective any further action or decision is likely to be flawed. You will almost always look back and say it could have been better, why didn't we notice this or think of that?
Bottom line: secret keeping may be flattering and may give rise to a sense of importance. Sometimes it is necessary. But it is a necessary evil, something that should be done very sparingly when there are absolutely no other options. It will produce stress and hurt communication. It is essentially a non productive mode of operating and should be followed by focused efforts to restore communication and shared problem solving. If secret keeping happens to be a prominent part of your management style it is time to review the management style and search for more productive approaches.
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