tags: #publish links: [[Management Articles]], [[Teams and Teamwork]], [[Communication]] created: 2022-03-17 Thu --- # Privacy vs Secrecy https://www.theadamthomas.com/effective-teams-dont-keep-secrets/ There's some gems in here: > - Privacy is based on trust > - Secrecy is not based on trust > - Foster privacy and eschew secrecy > Silence is a self-preservation strategy The gist is that secrecy is a consequence of mistrust, and this leads to messy backchannelling communication patterns and poor alignment (e.g. different bits of the org working around each other). Because of the mistrust, trying to fix it by "stopping secrecy" may be received as micromanagement and will result in even more backchannelling and mistrust *about the attempt to fix it*. You still need privacy. This might be 1-1s, or healthy team-level private spaces. You just have to keep an eye on when there's too much secrecy or unhealthy us-vs-them patterns, and nudge those things towards being more public and constructive. (Not mandate, because you can't mandate the backchannelling away.) How: * do retros and look at team dynamics - and cross-team * use 1-1s to work on individual dynamics * build actual connections * get people talking to each other * build connection between management and teams