{"id":17347,"date":"2024-11-04T19:06:43","date_gmt":"2024-11-04T18:06:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.flow.de\/?p=17347"},"modified":"2025-03-06T17:03:09","modified_gmt":"2025-03-06T16:03:09","slug":"flow-podcast-secrets-and-secrecy-in-organisations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.flow.de\/en\/flow-podcast-secrets-and-secrecy-in-organisations\/","title":{"rendered":"flow podcast: Secrets and secrecy in organisations"},"content":{"rendered":"

How do secrets and secrecy influence working life and working relationships? Listen to the latest podcast episode (German language) with Prof Dr Jana Costas.<\/p>\n

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Secrets and secrecy play an important role in working life and working relationships. They often act as an invisible force, shaping our daily work and the way we interact and lead in organisations. In the current podcast episode with Prof Dr Jana Costas, who holds the Chair of Human Resources, Work and Management at the European University Viadrina, we delve into this topic.<\/p>\n

Prof Dr Costas was a guest speaker at a flow event in spring 2024 and offered exciting insights into her research. Her findings are so fascinating that they are perfect for our podcast – and for the pre-Christmas period, which is characterised by secrecy, I think \ud83d\ude09.<\/p>\n

A \u2018secretive\u2019 book<\/h2>\n

In the foreword to her book \u2018Secrecy at Work. The Hidden Architecture of Organisational Life\u2019<\/a><\/strong>, which she co-authored with Christopher Grey, Jana Costas gives a first impression of what her research is about:<\/p>\n

“Secrecy is endemic within organizations, woven into the fabric of our lives at work. Yet, until now, we’ve had an all-too-limited understanding of this powerful organizational force. Secrecy is a part of work, and keeping secrets is a form of work. But also, secrecy creates a social order\u2014a hidden architecture within our organizations. (…) Animated with evocative examples from scholarship, current events, and works of fiction, this framework presents a bold reimagining of organizational life.”<\/em><\/p>\n

The path to exploring secrets<\/h2>\n

How did Jana Costas come to this topic? Her answer is very pragmatic:<\/p>\n

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  1. Her own experiences: As a member of various organisations, she developed a curiosity to explore how secrets affect everyday working life and relationships in the workplace.<\/li>\n
  2. Empirical research: Through her research in various organisations, she quickly discovered that secrets often play a central role and shape everyday working life.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Three forms of secrecy<\/h2>\n

    Prof Dr Costas emphasises in our interview that it is important to clearly distinguish between three forms of secrecy:<\/p>\n