What I want to hear?

I still remember the little white lies I used to tell as a kid in school (possibly brought back into sharp focus as my 3 year old flexes his new skill of talking-back).

“Did you knock the rubbish bin over and make this big mess?” my kindy teacher would ask.

“Nooo miss, rubbish goes in the bin! I was just picking it up.”

“Danny… are you telling me the truth, or are you just telling me what I want to hear?”.

I think businesses are a lot like toddlers and kids, a lot of the time.

Sometimes, they’re great. Going about their day, doing wonderful things, not bothering anyone, generally being well behaved.

Other times, they do something naughty.

Sometimes, they lie about that naughty thing.

Sometimes they get away with it… or sometimes they’re busted right in the act.

No one’s perfect.

But like my 5-year-old self and the rubbish bin, when you tell someone what they want to hear, their bulls**t detector blips to life… and I think what triggers the detector is a somehow unexplainable lack of transparency.

In a climate context, you’ll know that as greenwashing.

People want to hear that you’re doing the right thing by the environment, by your people, by them, and being an awesome, responsible, superhero company.

But don’t just tell them what they want to hear – tell them the truth.

Ps. If you want the truth to be positive, get yourself a checklist.