I generally try to keep quiet until, for good or bad, I marshal my thoughts to a conclusion. That wasn’t the case with this topic I brought up regarding Coming Up With a Name.
In a way, this has been a distraction. In a way, I’ve caused a little disunity, when unity would be better. On the other hand, the feedback helped.
The sentiment of having “Shareholders” in our title has gained momentum for good reason. My contribution was the word “Accountability.” People have supported that as well.
Putting “Fancamp” at the beginning of the order of words was what was throwing me off. Whew, finally the penny dropped. A title is a short thing. Every word counts. So does the order.
As I was considering the suggestions, I was drafting my letter, which was all about “accountability.” I’ve concluded “accountability” is the key idea to advance right off the bat.
Great organizations have the subject they’re advocating right up front in their name. Emphasizing how great we are with a grandiose name for ourselves doesn’t advance our mission.
Accountability #1) I’ll be talking to the Directors concerning how they’ll carefully monitor what’s being done to benefit shareholders, on the executive level, every morning and every afternoon.
Accountability #2) I don’t want to accumulate empty promises to amuse myself and make agonizingly slow progress because it’s piecemeal. Systems of daily reporting back to shareholders (which leave no room for evasion) will be, way above everything else, the key reform and the first reform I’ll insist on.
So far as my own accountability, I’m working on the Second Draft of my letter. I’m not doing this to arrive at perfection. I’m doing it because, on balance, the better First Impression will be worth it. Also, it’s worth the extra effort to remove every loophole, every path to equivocation.