Deny until you die

            The final section of Share This brought to mind that rhyme “deny until you die.” My classmates from high school used to say this on a regular basis. The idea is that once you start lying you just keep lying until the situation has blown over. Of course this almost never works. And if you’ve tweeted or posted on Facebook something that undermines your lie, then it’s all over anyway.

            The chapter also reminded me of chapter 4 of Share This where it talked about the decline of traditional media. Citizen journalists are a major threat to a company’s communications efforts. If you aren’t doing things correctly from the start you can bet that someone has their smart phone out and is recording the whole thing. Transparency is everything because all I have to do in today’s digital world is Google your company and find the real story.

            Transparency is also vital when it comes to internal communications.  If you aren’t communicating directly with your employees they will talk amongst themselves and figure out what’s going on within the company. Without word from managers or someone higher up the chain of command, these employees can develop an entirely different version of what is happening. 

            Your company should never be lying to its public, internal or external, and the notion of "deny until you die" is completely ludicrous.