The story of the Elks Lodge in Albert Lea and its eventually bankruptcy provides many lessons.

One of which is that keeping too many secrets under wraps might seem sensible in the short term but often has consequences in the long term.

Had the Elks board been more forthcoming with its members — even if it meant the general public finding out some of that knowledge — would that have staved off eventual bankruptcy? That’s hard to say, but it would have put rumors to rest and given the club’s regular diners the whole picture.

Here are three possible outcomes:

Perhaps grasping the seriousness of the situation might have given some members greater willingness to embrace much-needed change.

Perhaps avoiding loss of trust would have resulted in fewer divisions among members and less in-fighting. Loss of trust results from situations such as making waitresses not tell members the truth. (Giving them a prepared statement would have been smart.)

Perhaps fewer people would have lost money investing in debenture bonds last fall and spring.

Here is another lesson: Getting public relations advice from lawyers quite often is a bad idea. They think about the case in front of them, rather than a client’s long-term interests and standing in a community.

Admittedly, some lawyers are better at understanding the public than others — they become politicians, right? But when getting that kind of advice from lawyers, don’t think they learned it in law school. They are no more an expert on public relations than you are.