The Boston Globe reports (here today, gone tomorrow-ish) that Carl Jablonski, president of Shaw’s Supermarkets and Star Markets, does a monthly, live, unscripted video broadcast for employees. He talks about what the company is doing well and not so well, interviews a guest, and reads customer letters. On a recent show, the guest was a manager who poked gentle fun at Carl. Said Carl to the reporter, Keith O’Brien: “You’re human. They see that human side of their president. And quite frankly, I think you work better for somebody who you understand.” Nice. But then he also said:

“A 20-minute broadcast with the right individuals generates the message quicker, faster, and more to the point,” said Jablonski.

Insofar as it’s about communicating a message, it’s still alienating. As Doc said succinctly so many years ago, “There’s no market for messages.” It’s still a broadcast, the one in charge speaking to the many who are not. Why not open it up? Let the employees speak — we’ve got lots of ways of enabling that now. [Tags: management carl_jablonski cluetrain ]

Categories: Uncategorized dw