It seems to me that the themes of the woke-washing and green washing require further investigation. In both cases, these are organizations that exploit hot topics of environmental, social and cultural importance to demonstrate, deceptively, that they have a better image and reputation than reality. In the case of green-washing, they refer to climate and environmental sustainability issues. The important word is misleading which is mainly associated with incomplete or false communications on the company's activities and initiatives to divert or divert attention. Many of the washing examples are related to content with communication vague, incomplete, irrelevant, improvable to the extreme of falsehood. These modes of communication – Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) – are contrary to the simple concept of authenticity which, in fact, brings with it the truthfulness and demonstrability of the fact or news. The tipping point for proving reality and veracity is the question of taxonomy, evidence, and verification.
Authenticity, in its broadest sense, refers to paradigms of communication, behavior and action that are imperative in this historical moment and especially on all issues related to environmental and social sustainability. Underlying everything there are five axioms (Authenticity, JH Gilmore, BJ Pine, 2007) interesting to remember: Respect these principles it should be the fundamentalist basis of communication, CSR and corporate culture in a modern world that is struggling to apply environmental, social and governance standards capable of reducing the climate risks we are running.
Axiom1: if you are authentic, you don't have to say you are authentic. Axiom2: if you say you are authentic, you must be authentic. Axiom3: It's easier to be authentic if you don't say you're authentic. Axiom4: Offers are easier to make authentic if you know they are inauthentic. Axiom5: You don't have to say that your offers are inauthentic if you make them authentic. I would like to associate the word authenticity with the word integrity.
What seems necessary is a cultural shift to evolve from one passive strategy to a reactive strategy which starts from the awareness that the company not only has an economic-financial role, but also a central role in the processes of transformation and improvement society.
These are truly the new foundation for a new modern capitalism who responsibly undertakes with integrity to transform the surrounding world with respect for people and the environment and who looks more to the future than to the present. On the other hand, the various IT tools (social media, Google, artificial intelligence, etc.) at our disposal will make it increasingly easier to search for information and verify the facts and, the real risk for the organization, is to generate an uncontrolled boomerang effect that offends the sensibilities of the communities and engaged consumers. Everything else risks being "hot air".
“Capitalism is the astounding belief that the wickedest of men will do the wickedest of deeds for the greatest good of all.” John Maynard Keynes. All the Best!
Detail of the work by Lucio Fontana on the cover
