Flood the Zone
Term: Flood the Zone | Book: Lipstick on a Pig (the no-spin era): book profile and conceptual summary
Definition and main idea
In the framework that the underlying summary attributes to the book, this title refers to an active, continuous presence in the information field with honest information and clear explanations, instead of silence, a late reaction or leaving the narrative entirely to others.
Explanation and elaboration
An organisation can help audiences get a fuller picture by publishing relevant documents, answering regularly, keeping spokespeople available and explaining decisions clearly. Even so, a high volume of messages is not transparency in itself. Information must be relevant, checkable and honest, and must answer the hard questions too.
Notes and limits of interpretation
Source versus analysis
In other political usages the English phrase “Flood the Zone” has sometimes meant saturating the public space with many, or misleading, messages. That other meaning should not be assumed to be the same as Clarke’s chapter without checking. This chapter’s account needs to be compared with the full text of the book.
Relations to other concepts
- The No-Spin Era & Transparency
- Tell the Truth Early, Often, and in Plain Language
- Have More Than One Weapon in Your Arsenal
- Message & Objective First
Review questions
- What communication problem does this principle solve?
- Is the message consistent with the reality of the organisation’s performance?
- What exactly should the audience know, understand or do?
- What evidence exists to evaluate the result?