Hiya Reader,
This week I had the pleasure of hosting the Unveiling Greenwashing workshop for a dozen marketers of many stripes (copywriters, agency owners, publicists, founders and more). The flow took on a familiar feel*:
➡︎ Understand the situation - gain context and appreciation for the current reality. View claims and explore what isn’t as it seems, linking back to evidence.
➡︎ Create a framework - develop a set of guardrails within which to operate (in this case, what questions we might begin to ask as marketers to ensure we’re not greenwashing).
➡︎ Execute the plan - this is where I left attendees, with a toolkit to reflect on what comes next and how to apply that in their work.
I took as much away from the experience as (I hope!) my attendees did (early signs are looking good!). It was helpful to unpack what it means to be a marketer in this time in history and to challenge what’s within our power to influence.
It’s an ongoing process too. I called out the need to drop our egos and remember that we all want the same thing at our core, no matter our professions or politics.
So for that, we need to start with personal reflection. I argue that’s the same for organisations too - humans within organisations, reflecting. In fact, I asked this exact question👇 in a client workshop just last week.
What is the future we want to see?
A liveable, healthy, happy one.
Start there and work back.
All hands on deck,
Melissa
*This ‘familiar feel’ is the framework we use to develop a solid strategy. It can be applied to so many formats - even workshops! - because it works.
Inspiring Purpose
The Post-Growth Guide is a Danish-based startup building in public, using degrowth principles. Degrowth is an economic concept based on the argument that we cannot continue to grow infinitely in a finite system. Incorporating principles of systems thinking and regenerative practices, their model is to intentionally limit growth, while still scaling (i.e. still achieving their reason for being).
In this model, growth is not the end in itself. Their impact is.
We will see a shift to degrowth by design or by disaster. Post-Growth Guide shows us how it can be done.
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Building a Values-Led Brand
The team at World Values Day invited me to chat live on LinkedIn. It was a great, juicy conversation hosted by the lovely and clever Anna McAfee.
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Kind Words from a Client
“You encouraged us to collaborate, think & reflect. The process was incredibly valuable and enjoyable.
The feedback from the team was extremely positive, everyone appreciated being involved and is committed to the process going forward.
There is a lot of optimism and excitement about the future direction of the business. Thank you!”
- Director at Manufacturing SME client.
Curious to learn more about our strategy process that gets responses like this? Get in touch.
Roundup
In case it sounds like a fantasy, even Harvard Business Review is now talking about degrowth (which, incidentally gets autocorrected because it's not widely recognised as a word). Seeing degrowth pop up in the mainstream is heartening - but, "who will heed the call?" is the next question.
Meta will use all personal data to train their AI (and Aussies can't opt out of this) raising questions not only of the urgent need for AI governance and policy oversight but also reinforcing that we as social media users are indeed the product.
Financial Times reports that Gen Z wants more from their business master's degrees (yes, that's right, Gen Z is old enough to be completing master's degrees. We know. We can't believe it either).
Melissa was thrilled to be appointed to the board of the Australian Institute of Food Science and Technology (AIFST) as a non-executive director. With food security a key challenge for the coming decade, supporting food professionals in feeding our future is crucial.
What We're Reading
Systems Thinking for Social Change: A Practical Guide to Solving Complex Problems, Avoiding Unintended Consequences and Achieving Lasting Results, by David Peter Stroh.
Providing some great examples of how systems thinking can facilitate more effective/sustainable innovation and behaviour change.
We acknowledge the Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples as the first inhabitants of the nation and that sovereignty was never ceded. We pay our respects to the Turrbal and Yuggera people who are the Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, learn and work in beautiful Meeanjin (Brisbane), Australia. |