Moving WebWord: The Open Company Manifesto

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The Open Company Manifesto

by John S. Rhodes

Open Company, Empowered Users

When Web users can easily and fully understand a company, the company and the users can evolve together. When the relationship is closed, trust is lost. Users feel frustrated and angry when information is not available. In turn, companies lose market share and sales when users are upset.

Consider that users can improve information flow. They can create robust markets, and they can help fix the problems that a company faces. This can happen at an astonishing speed. If the gateway is open, and the company allows users access, those users will quickly tell the company what they are doing wrong. When users are invited to wallow in the information flow, they will crack the company into shape.

A company that flees the hammer of open communication will fail, at least in relation to those companies that embrace the free flow of information. Indeed, the next century is going to be the century of the user. It will be users that drive the economy, one by one. Indeed, Web marketing is already one-to-one.

Currently, we are seeing how portable devices, telecommunications, and the Web, for example, are all empowering users one at a time. In this information economy, a company that opens its doors to users will prosper. Companies that spread out the welcome mat to users will win. Thus, an open flow of information is crucial.

Company assets are user assets. Stockholders and users truly own the company, and thus, they own the information in the company. By closing the information gateway, a company can seriously jeopardize its strategic position. Users will quickly and unabashedly seek out those companies where information is freely accessible.

Why?

Trust is built by the open company. Users see honesty when information is naked to the eye. And, even if the company chooses the wrong path, it will be the open path. The open path ultimately leads the misled company back to the true path--the honest path. Under the burning light of user scrutiny, the open company must acknowledge its errors. Ultimately, there is no choice. A company must be honest or become honest.

If users can trust a company, the competition will have great difficulty stealing them away. And, a company that relies on proprietary information flows will not be as favored by users.

Users will chose the path where knowledge is most accessible; it is the path of least resistance. Lower resistance equals greater usability.

Marketplace versus UserSpace

"But the marketplace will always destroy corporate openness!"

In a general market comparison, between a company with an information proprietary stance versus a company with an information open stance, the closed company certainly seems better positioned. For example, a closed company will simply steal the good ideas of the open company. The open company seems naked, and competitors will take its secrets.

But that is the wrong comparison to make, and it is the wrong scenario to envision. The new business model, the one based on user-centered knowledge acquisition and usability, tells us a much different story.

The next century is going to be user-dominated. The correct comparison of companies is in relation to users, not the so-called marketplace.

In effect, since users are the economic juggernauts, the comparison of companies must be based on users in the domain I'll label the UserSpace. Taken to the extreme, the UserSpace is the aggregate relationship networks forged by the interaction of users and companies. In plain words, it is the trusting relationship between users and a company that is created by truthful information exchanges. Thus, it is maintained by the flow of quality information between users and companies. The UserSpace can grow and shrink depending on the amount of information flow. Of course, the greater the size of the UserSpace the more the company and the users will mutually benefit; an open flow is a good flow.

Since users almost always choose open information and trust over proprietary information, open companies will enjoy a strategic advantage over closed companies. This is because people buy goods and services from those that they trust. Fortunately, an open company can foster trust.

The open company enjoys other advantages too. For example, an open company will be given more freedom to make mistakes since the UserSpace is more flexible than the marketplace. The UserSpace isn't necessarily more forgiving or kinder, it is simply more elastic. While a company might not be given more leeway, users will understand that openness means that mistakes will be presented, not hidden.

Open companies will have less to fear. As they manage a crisis, users will guide them through the disclosure process. Put another way, users will be more likely to send a steady flow of information into an open company. Since this flow is from the users, the company will know exactly what to do. In short, the crisis will be managed more by the users and less by the company.

An open company can evolve faster than a closed company since users are feeding the company with ideas, expectations, and data. The UserSpace is a hotbed of creativity and idea exchange. So, the think tank can be replaced by a powerful user information flow into the company. Similarly, market studies will be more simple. And, usability will be continually driven by users, not by designers or experts.

If done right, the corporate organization hierarchy will get even more flat. For example, email will continue to provide open access to developers, managers, account representatives, and even the company president. When the company is open, and the flow is there, the right people get the right information. Thus, errors will be identified earlier, and users will be satisfied by new products sooner.

Open companies can help users be open too. That is, users can be encouraged to divulge more information because the information flow will be needed to sustain the relationship with the company. If the company is open and willing to serve users with information, then the users will need to provide the company with information in return. The open flow of information will yield an important synergy.

The UserSpace formed between an open company and a user is the a true measure of value.

It's Already Knockin' at Your Door

Almost everything I am saying is already occurring. However, it is occurring without the control or knowledge of most companies. And, users are leading the charge, often without being aware of their blind thirst for knowledge. They are acquiring information, because that is what they do.

Today's customers are very different from yesterday's customers. They are connected to the Internet, in some cases with continuous high-speed, high-bandwidth connections. Users are continually driving things forward. Much of the mystery of companies and the market is already gone. Users will hunt down information, but the hunt is not enjoyable.

Furthermore, most users know the ins-and-outs of a product better than folks selling the product. And those users have much more pull on the Web. Users are more likely to be gurus than company representatives--they actually use the product day in, day out. Users use products, companies sell products.

Users have power. And, they are really the ones spreading information in email messages, newsgroup postings, chat rooms, and discussion lists.

Attempts to stop the spread of information result in user anger.

The answer for many companies is to offer up the information. A company can defuse the time bomb by not hiding information. That is, if the information is openly presented, users won't guess and speculate. This is important since rumors and gossip move the market as much as real information. In some cases this is good, but in most cases it burns.

It is easier to get control by releasing it to users. Tell the truth and they will happily spread it.

Don't spread information in press releases alone. Press releases, particularly in the old media, are important, but they aren't necessarily the best way to go about information openness. Instead, user groups should be targeted cautiously. Previous clients can be contacted via email if the company is offering excellent information and solutions to users' problems. Newsgroup postings can work too. And so on.

Go beyond sales and selling benefits. Give the details that help users truly solve their problems. Tell them what the product can do, and what it can't. Tell them how the goods work well with competitors' goods.

Users are not stupid. Groups are often stupid, the market is often stupid, but people one-to-one are usually quite savvy. Remember, individual users make the decisions.

The Internet facilitates one-to-one communication and interaction. Corporate jargon won't work, users will run. Users want information that will help them solve problems--they don't want brochure talk.

A Closed Information Policy Can Hurt

Users can easily search for the best prices or products that match particular criteria. With a few mouse clicks, they can find multiple product sources and storefronts.

And price almost always matters.

For example, if you complain that users only care about price in their searches, and if you don't want to sell based on price, you could be in trouble. If a robot or spider is hunting down price information and yours isn't available, it will move on and you won't show up on users' radar.

When you don't provide information, you don't exist.

Sure, you want to sell value and features and solutions, but that isn't always possible. Price information might be the only information your users care about. This is a narrow example, since many users do care about more than price. But, perhaps price information shouldn't be hidden since many users will only use price to make their judgements.

Open Companies Understand Usability

In sum, the need for a open company policy is already here. People are already searching for information as they please. Wake up! Users are already sharing information with each other about your company.

Not a day goes by where I'm not telling someone about some company or product. The information I use comes from many sources. However, I usually don't get my information from the companies--they are too closed. Instead, I ask colleagues, read postings, read editorials, and so on. Like other typical users, I hunt for information since I can't get it directly from companies.

The open company might seem open to attack. But the reality is that an open company will be more in control of information, it will be more trustworthy, and it will be better able to adapt to users.

An open company is a usable company. By necessity, an open company is user-centered and user-driven. Furthermore, the first companies to truly open the information gates will gain incredible user support. And, in time, open companies will eliminate closed companies.

Please recommend The Open Company Manifesto to a friend.

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