techonomy | Bulldozer00's Blog

Where Is Point A?

September 8, 2010 bulldozer00 4 comments

In the “Managing The Unmanageable” techonomy video discussion, HCL Technologies CEO Vineet Nayar says something like: “If your people don’t know where point A is, then they won’t know how to get to point B“. Vineet said this in response to a question regarding the concern that the more transparent your company is, the more your competitors can copy you. Vineet, along with the other two 21st century CEOs on the panel stated that the benefits of transparency far out weigh the risks of “giving away the family jewels“.

Look at the figure below. On the left side, through transparency and continuous full disclosure, your people know where you are (point A) and your people know where you and they want to be in the future (point B). Thus, you and your people can figure out what problems need to be solved and what new actions need to be taken. On the right side of the figure, everyone knows where point B is, but nobody (except for maybe a “select few” high up in the CCH) knows where they’re starting from. Where the frig is point A?