To survive, you need a point of view

(And then you need to follow it)

My daughter loves Greta Thunberg. She’s become more careful with recycling and reusing, and uses “Greta” as a shorthand for when she’s troubled by someone’s less-than-environmentally-sound practices. It’s inspiring to see, for sure, but it’s also a wake-up call. Businesses can’t afford to be passive anymore. It’s never going to be enough to stand by when world issues rage on: you have to have a point of view, because it’s what’s expected.

There are valid reasons why businesses think they shouldn’t “take sides” in issues going on in the wider world: it could turn off an investor, or it could lead to a PR nightmare. Most of all, it might mean taking a very critical look at company practices – one that often leads to expensive and time-consuming changes. 

But, it needs to be done. If my daughter – and her hero, Greta – are any indication, the youngest among us demand a point of view. Looking older, we have statistics that show the same, over 50 per cent of Generation X and 7 in 10 millennials actively consider company values when making a purchase. As a Gen Xer myself, I’m seeing my fellows raised on reduce, reuse, and recycle growing into positions of power, and taking those values with us.

Even if a business is looking to be more values-driven in its practices, it can be hard to communicate that to people who are hungry for it. At my company MediaFace, we’re especially and increasingly drawn to the kind of work that involves turning ideas and concepts into impactful content – and this includes value-driven content. 

Value-driven content means that instead of the medium being the message (H/T Marshall McLuhan), the creation of the message is as important as the message itself. I think back to the video work we did with Plan Canada’s International Day of the Girl, where the young women stepping into C-suite positions for the day didn’t only see themselves behind a leaders’ desk, but also in the nearly all-women production team we had on the shoots. That’s true authenticity: the same thing that makes Greta Thunberg resonate so strongly with my daughter, and millions around the world. 

Whatever your values are: make sure you’re prepared to walk the walk.