Beware of the Hidden Goal: A Lesson on Clear Communication from World War II
Monday, November 7, 2011 at 5:03PM 
The Treaty of Versailles, which ended World War I, was many things but effective was not one of them. Under the ruse of securing peace through disarmament and promoting national self-determination with Wilson's 14 points, the Allies set forth to brutally punish Germany by weakening it through forced disarmament and ridiculous reparation penalties.
Adolf Hitler was also many things but naive wasn't one of them. Before executing the Anschluss that forcibly reunited Austria back into Germany, he went to the Allies with an offer to unilaterally disarm if they would divest themselves of all weapons as well. The French and British scoffed and Hitler had them. In their lie lay the foundations of the Second World War, born from the hypocricy at the heart of the Versailles Treaty.
The lie was that disarmament for peace was the purpose of the treaty. It wasn't. The purpose was to crush and keep weak, to rule, to overlord. Many companies still take this approach towards their employees and social media. The lie is that they do so in the name of protection and security. The truth is they are afraid of open and honest dialogue in the marketplace. And the truth is that this honest communication is taking place with or without their consent.
How many companies use words like collaboration and synergy in an agenda of employee support yet they turn around and block major social media collaboration tools that would accomplish these goals much easier?
The bottom line is that the Germans knew the French were lying about securing peace when Hitler pressed unilateral disarmament and employees likewise should know that companies who block Facebook and Twitter yet still talk about collaboration and synergy are full of the brown stuff that makes crops grow.
And guess what--soon their customers and prospects will find out also.
Photo by Nationaal Archief
Facebook, Hitler, Twitter, World War II in Social Media, Social Networking 
Reader Comments (2)
I like the poster so much. I also think about the treaty the way you do. The treaty holds so many lies about peace. Anyway, we ought to learn from that, don't we?
Agree. We ought to learn from that war and I hope it never happens again.