Yet again I read a statement of an organization sharing that they “are all about clarity and transparency” to introduce the update of their different policies.

Until then I may not even have questioned that idea. It is, by now, quite a common way to write things and people might not even think about it anymore.

Thinking about it, I immediately developed several hypotheses that might explain the intent behind this type of wording.

Conflict avoidance: Policies have an impact on the relationship with the customer, and as policies are imposed on the customer, they might oppose the change or be anxious about the impact on the relationship with the organization.

Focus on identity: By describing what they are all about, the organization tries to describe itself to the customer. When it updates the policies, the organization might have been anxious that it is not perceived as it wants to be perceived or as it sees itself.

Unconscious anxiety: It’s a sentence as we’ll see it written all over. The author of the text might have used a typical template without noticing that it highlights a possible unconscious anxiety he or the organization has.

Depending on the way the reader receives this message, he will have several options.

He can simply let it go and choose if he investigates the updates or lets it go. The latter might need his ability to imagine that none of his behavior infringes the policies or is impacted by them.

He can see his freedom of thought impinged by a statement of how he should perceive the organization. If he does, he can take it personally and feel triggered to act. Or he can let it go as it hasn’t anything to do with him, it’s the organization showing vulnerability.