Information Sharing

I had a conversation recently where we debated how much information to share. One party asserted that giving out any information to anyone is a diminishment of competitive advantage. Another asserted that inane information that is readily available is no big deal and that sharing it creates goodwill. I think there is something in between. There are times to share and times to keep private and our job is to figure out which is which.

Across social media, I constantly see "disappear for 6 months", "never share anything", and "keep your success to yourself" messages, basically instructing people to become mute with what they are doing and what they have accomplished. This sounds antithetical when trying to promote a business and gain visibility. While I understand the underlying meaning to keeping private, I also think that there is an asterisk with these comments. Only share with people who have proven to be on your side. Not everyone is and they will begrudge you, try to sabotage you, or will try to minimize your accomplishment in hopes to dash your dreams. Be careful-- share with those who you know are rooting for you.

Back to the debate. How much to share and with who? There are trade secrets, confidential information, insider information, competitive advantage information that are held closely and remain private. Likewise finances and employee issues and discussions are private. But when you start looking at information that we each know, does it really matter? We see this as a standard clause in a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) where if information becomes public subsequent to the NDA, the parties are released from maintaining the confidentiality. That is paraphrased, but basically once it is public or could be known by others, it is not sacrosanct anymore.

I am not advocating going around over-sharing or putting you/your business at a disadvantage. Quite the opposite. Keep private what needs to be but be willing to share your knowledge with others. Through the transfer of knowledge, everyone grows. There is not a singular "secret formula" in limited quantities that will evaporate if too many people know it. There is abundance in all areas, which means that lifting others up does not move you down. It also lifts you. You can strategically share information to build relationships, gain credibility, expand the information you know by others adding to it, and help someone out. Keep your reason for sharing clear and in your best interest, but there are always opportunities to share. And realize that you will benefit too.

If this resonates with you, give me a call, email, or schedule a no cost exploratory call through this website. Thank you for reading this. [email protected]