Working in the Open

Working in the Open is a practical distinction that reliably increases performance because it changes the surface area of your work.

When your work is visible early and often, it creates an immediate opportunity for others to engage. Ideas get sharpened, risks get caught sooner, and progress accelerates through collaboration rather than private perfectionism.

Working in the Open creates accountability around your work, your thinking, and your timeline. It forces clarity: What are you doing? Why? What’s the current state? What’s next? By when? That clarity is not administrative overhead — it’s a performance multiplier.

For managers specifically, Working in the Open prevents you and your team from becoming overly committed to your own idea or approach. When your thinking is public, you naturally stay more flexible, more coachable, and more responsive to what the team is discovering.