Kettle Thoughts... #1 The Trust Void
Benjamin Moncrieffe
Head of Strategic Foresight at JLR & Co-Founder at FIG: Foresight Inside Group
It's early 2023 and I've decided to bite the bullet and put some musings on paper. To hell with the little voice that says "No one will want to read your unstructured thoughts" or "where is the structure in this idea or concept?".
Years ago an old friend of mine (shout out to the big brain that is Oli Preston ) coined the term 'Kettle Thoughts' - an idea, pondering or rumination that comes to mind whilst waiting for the kettle to boil. A simple concept that I identify with - often ideas come to me when I'm doing something else. Simple thoughts whilst the mind is otherwise occupied can lead to big ideas. So, with Oli's blessing, I'm going to do what all great innovators do - steal & copy with pride.
This week whilst making coffee, I've been ruminating on the ever expanding void between the public's expectations and what our governments, institutions and even economies are able to deliver. 2022 was frankly an embarrassing year for British politics, we saw significant anti-zero Covid protests in China, and whilst it appears as though fight is being taken to the rise of populism, the insurrections in the US & more recently Brazil are showing that populism is fighting back. Many commentators feel this gap will only grow.
The US National Intelligence Council predicted this ever growing void in their global 2040 trends report 2 years ago* and the Edelman Trust Barometer** has listed 'Business' as a more trusted institution than NGOs, Governments & in last place (unsurprisingly) the Media, for the last 2 years.
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It strikes me that global corporate enterprises are faced with a conundrum - in a trust void where the public is searching for leadership, how can business and brands pick up (some) of the slack?
Brands can lead, no doubt, and brands should (read: must) take a stand or form a POV on social issues - it's no longer enough just to 'sell your stuff'. The opportunities are immense to build a deeper more meaningful relationship with "constituents" (more than just customers) that lasts lifetimes and generates value for both parties - the question is how far do you go? Or even how far do you dare to go? How much do businesses want to step in to that void and if they do, could they fail as much as governments and NGO's?
This goes beyond marketing, social issues, CSR, sustainability initiatives or net zero campaigns. This is about delivering value beyond the core value proposition and perhaps even offering public services, investment in the community, energy and even education. Is there a role for business to conciously and visibly step-in to the void and do so not as a saviour or as a PR exercise but as a commitment to pick up the slack where governments are failing and will continue to fail on the demands of their voters. If that happens could customers (as well as shareholders) gain voting rights on business decisions? How could you crowd source investment decisions from your customer base? What about if customers could vote for board members? On that last point, I guarantee that we would have more diverse, younger and bolder boards of directors in the worlds largest companies if that was the case...
For me, its an open door for businesses to push on and truly lead in this void, the question is how much and what for. It feels like the opportune time for big business to step up in a time of great uncertainty.
My writing and opinions are my own and not reflective of the views of my current or past employers.
*https://www.dni.gov/files/ODNI/documents/assessments/GlobalTrends_2040.pdf
**https://www.edelman.com/sites/g/files/aatuss191/files/2022-01/2022%20Edelman%20Trust%20Barometer%20Global%20Report_Final.pdf
M&PD
2 年Kettle thoughts, firstly to reboot the mental hard drive. Namely prior to retiring to bed I make note of actions for the following day. These are placed by the kettle, the following morn whilst the kettle is priming it’s self to boil I read the notes. Therefore rebooted without the burden of a sleepless night thinking ??
Lead Geospatial Data Scientist at Schroders
2 年Enjoyed this read Ben. Though, I’d gently challenge that no one has Edelman reports / graphs to hand when their kettle is boiling…
Chief Corporate Affairs Officer | BA (Hons) in Politics
2 年Love this concept and structure!
Chartered MCIPD
2 年Nice one Ben, I admire anyone brave enough to put themselves out there, it’s an interesting topic. It got me thinking about how easily we offer it to various companies and individuals. These ‘trust exchanges’ happening with the backdrop of an overall level of trust in society at large, the later seems to have been in steady decline for some time. I would point to the monetisation of trust among companies such as Which and Check a trade. These companies highlight the motivation behind the product or action, in the Governments case the motivation should be to improve the lives of every one of us, but this has become less believable due to the particularly trust corrosive previous few years. As to your point on large companies stepping in to fill the void I believe this hinges on the perceived motivation, as this would surely be assumed (in most cases) as profit? If the end goal of any private sector company is to generate profit then the conflict this introduces with doing what is “right” makes them difficult to trust? Be great to discuss in person! Alas my own kettle moments I tend to make use of the time to stare into space in between making snacks and juice for the kids ??