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Radical Transparency FAQ

Page history last edited by Leo Babauta 14 years, 7 months ago

Frequently Asked Questions about my Radical Transparency experiment:

 

Q. What's the benefit of this to Zen Habits readers?

 

That remains to be seen. I think people will be able to trust me if they see that everything I do is above-board. They'll have more input into my decisions. And best of all, I'm setting an example for the world, showing that this is not only possible, but actually a good thing.

 

Q. Why should anyone care about your decision-making, communications, finances, and all that?

 

A. I have no idea if anyone will. For all I know, I'll make all this info public, and no one will even read it.

 

But ... maybe they will. Maybe people are interested in how I conduct my business. Maybe they want to be more involved in the process.

 

Maybe they'll learn something from how I do things, just as I've learned from others. Who knows? Let's try it and see what happens.

 

Q. How the hell can you consider baring your financial data?

 

A. Finances are normally thought to be private. And I'm going to keep my private finances private -- I'm not an idiot. But what's wrong with sharing my business finances with the public?

 

How does it hurt me, other than possibly being embarrassing? No one can use my finances as a competitive advantage or anything. I'm not Microsoft or Apple.

 

Q. Other bloggers can steal your post ideas if you make them public -- isn't that bad?

 

A. Possibly. If you think it's bad that other people write about the same topics I write about. But guess what? They already do! Often better than I do. I consider it a good thing that people write about these topics -- the more voices, the better.

 

Also, it's not stealing if I voluntarily give these ideas to the world -- it's called sharing. Also, people can't accuse me of stealing their ideas, if I post them here first.

 

Q. Other authors can steal your book ideas.

 

Yes. That's OK. I freely give them my ideas. I hope they'll let me steal their ideas back!

 

Sharing of ideas is a good thing. It's only when we try to guard ideas, hoard them, that society is hurt, and people profit from this secrecy.

 

Q. Won't people be less likely to work with you on projects if they have to communicate publicly?

 

A. Yes, possibly. But those who do will be willing to be open.

 

It remains to be seen just how much of a damper effect this will have. There will definitely be people who won't be willing to work with me in public -- but then the question is, do I want to work with them? I think people will get used to this -- after all, it takes a little while to get used to being naked in public. :) But I think it will become comfortable and normal after awhile. We'll see how it works.

 

Q. Why can't I communicate with you privately, via email?

 

A. Well, first of all, because I'm trying to quit email, because it's just gotten too overwhelming and time consuming for me. It doesn't scale to larger audiences, I've found, because after your email continues to grow you cannot handle it, even with an assistant and rigorous rules and filters.

 

But second, because I would rather have a public discussion than a private one. While this doesn't allow for secrecy, it does benefit many rather than just two people. If you and I discuss the solutions to our blogging problems one-on-one, only we benefit ... but if we discuss it in front of everyone, then everyone benefits. It also allows more people to get involved, enriching the conversation. Finally, it makes the most of my communication time and efforts, as I only have to communicate a concept once when I do it publicly, rather than over and over when I do it privately. Read more.

 

Q. Will this mean your blog and projects are subject to the whim of thousands of readers? How can you let everyone dictate what you do?

 

A. No, that's a misunderstanding of what I'm attempting to do. This Radical Transparency experiment is about doing my business in public, and getting input from readers, and having a public discussion about decisions. But in the end, I will make all decisions. I'll do that in public, though, so people will know what decisions I've made and why, but still ... it's my blog and business, and I'll decide. I hope to take reader input into consideration as much as possible, and I hope the transparency will be useful to people, though.

 

Q. So does that mean you won't have any private communications (emails, chats, calls) regarding Zen Habits or other business, starting today?

 

A. No, it won't happen overnight. I still have private email (trying to get rid of it), and I still do private chats and calls, but I'm moving away from this. I'm talking to everyone I do business with and seeing if they're willing to have discussions in public from now on -- I can't force them, as we didn't agree to this from the beginning. However, it's my intent to require any new projects or partners to communicate with me publicly, and eventually phase out all private communication (for business purposes, not personal).

 

So it will happen, I think, but just not today. Gradually, which is how I do anything anyway. :)

 

 

Add your questions here by editing this wiki page!

 

Or see the Comments page.

Comments (2)

georgette said

at 2:06 pm on Aug 9, 2009

something that I feel is truly important!

sharing the awesome things that you have learned and that have inspired yourself in hopes of truly inspiring others to find happiness, love, kindness, compassion, a higher quality of life, and deeper and more loving relationships. to help others be kinder to this planet and this universe that we live in.

I don't ever see the harm in this, and I feel the value that you are sharing is exactly the resources and thoughts that are needed.

love this FAQ! so awesome, genuine, and keeping it real! thank you!

Adam Artajew said

at 10:08 pm on Nov 29, 2009

I don't understand why you say "And I'm going to keep my private finances private -- I'm not an idiot".

Was H. D. Thoreau an idiot because he shared with us his economics in the first chapter of Walden? Wasn't it about his private finances (bricks, clothing, food, fuel, etc.)?

Could you explain what exactly do you mean?

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