One of the hottest corporate buzzwords today is “transparency.”  It’s used in all kinds of contexts, and as is the case with all corporate speak that catches fire, it’s used to mean all kinds of things.

Warren Buffett isn’t known to be much of a proponent of corporate speak.  He says things clearly and sometimes cleverly.  Thus, it’s ordinarily easier to remember what he says than what other C-suite-types say.

He probably wasn’t thinking about the word transparency when he said the following (assuming he actually said it).  But this quote is often attributed to him.  It sounds like something he would say.  And it seems to capture the true meaning of transparency.

“You don’t know who’s swimming naked until the tide goes out.”