The New York Times Rule

Well, I had no idea I'd have more to say on the subject yet here we are. Further to my last post on internet communication and IR: this item from St. John's, Newfoundland & Labrador.

A manager with the municipal government wrote an e-mail to a colleague. In it, he discusses an employee that has been newly-elected as a CUPE executive member. According to the CBC, he writes to his colleague that the worker, "bears close watching and you need to make sure she gets cut no slack." This is all, apparently, because she is now no longer an employer, but a union rep.

Now, of course, the e-mail is in the national press, CUPE is out for "a pound of flesh and a gallon of blood" according to St. John's Deputy Mayor, and the manager is probably cowering in a corner. And surprisingly, people are surprised.

Obvious point number one: Collective bargaining may be a new right, the freedom to associate isn't. For crying out loud, to any non-IR types who might have stumbled upon this, repeat after me: Being in a union isn't illegal.

Obvious point (to me anyway) number two: e-mails aren't private. They can be forwarded anywhere. When they're written using an employer's computer or softward, anyone can read them with the right clearance and permission from your employer (and in some workplaces, even the concept of "permission" is fairly permeable).

So what's an office rube to do? How do you go about your bizness knowing the world is watching? How not to have a union end up with your latest management urgings?

I recall a great rule of thumb on e-mail I heard years ago which I love: I have witnessed its violation, and unfortunate consequences of doing so countless times since, making me a fervent convert. It's called The New York Times Rule. It's simple: is what you're about to say something you'd EVER want to see on the front page of the New York Times? No? Really? You sure? If you're not sure, how about having to explain said headline to your Mom? Or to your spouse and kids? Ah, that got your attention, didn't it? If the answer to any of the above got your attention, then DON'T WRITE IT DOWN.

Don't believe me? Think this is all far too cautious? Perhaps you should ask the City Manager in St. John's what he thinks. Or the nice folks who use to run Enron.