I WORKED FOR MORE THAN A DECADE in global advertising at the forefront of digital innovation and emerging technology. I entered this world in 1998 with a background in behavioural sciences and interactive design, but minimal experience in marketing. That meant I had to ride the World Wide Web wave and rise of social media, learning as I went. I am a geek at heart and, back then, heuristics and understanding the ‘who’ and ‘why’ of the internet — namely, how it was shaping and redefining the human condition — was my thing. Marketing stuff to people wasn’t that interesting to me; however, making meaning of stuff was inspirational.

For many years I led specialist teams in social tracking and diagnostics for brands, providing them with actionable insight into their customers, and practical ways to forge stronger ties with their audiences and communities. I developed methodologies to help organisations track, measure and map, and then turn this information into a useful decision-making tool. They were fascinated in understanding how influence spreads in the new digital economy, and how they must harness it. This was the context in which I began to experiment and design systems and tools to enable this spread of influence.

My agency buddies were artisans — creative technologists, master storytellers, engineers and producers — and we were all learning how to exist and create value in this new paradigm. It was also a time of extreme stress for my ‘traditionalist’ colleagues — the advertising elite who desperately clung to outmoded thinking and practices amid the erosion and waning relevance of the broadcast industry and ‘great empire’ they loved, with the source of its power collapsing around them.

Without warning, this same advertising elite was put on notice. But instead of respectfully recognising this as the invitation to transform that came with the birth of a new paradigm, they continued in egocentric defiance with their broadcast agenda — failing to provide the essential pathways for connection and intimacy that people so obviously craved. Ignoring the signals, industry moguls continued to push their agenda with more irrelevant, invasive media — all the while bleeding as much money as possible out of the shifting landscape.

No one — not even those who were paying attention to the signals — could have foreseen what was coming next.

Fast forward ten years and it’s like we’re on a different planet. Consumers have all the power and business leaders are scrambling to justify their relevance. Sadly, a lot of purpose-washing is going on in the world right now, with corporations jumping on the bandwagon with hollow corporate social responsibility (CSR) and shared value initiatives that are nothing more than sophisticated risk management attempting to mask harmful or shameful trade practices in a pretence of care. Those corporations’ days are numbered. Every week a company seems to be dragged into the social media spotlight and its leadership read what amounts to their last rites, with consumers vehemently opposed to their actions and calling them to account.

As if by reaction, or perhaps because of their plain terror of extinction, they kneejerk by attempting to reverse-engineer purpose into brands and products that are inherently bad but which have no intention of ever changing the way they operate. It’s like putting lipstick on a pig — both ridiculous and futile.

Purpose demands that we let go of controlled outcomes and learn to get comfortable with uncertainty. Indeed, in his book Uncertainty: Turning Fear and Doubt into Fuel for Brilliance, my friend Jonathan Fields suggests that ‘in business, art, and life, creating on a world-class level demands bold action and leaps of faith’.

The time has come time for organisations — and the leaders who represent them — to embrace being naked and extraordinary.

Stripping away pretence and persuasion

In case you’re wondering, I don’t mean leaders adopting a naturist culture! That would certainly afford you attention — but not necessarily the kind that can help your business flourish.

By being ‘naked’ I mean stripping away the pretence, persuasive practices and elusive rhetoric that is typical of institutions. I mean being fully transparent about politics and power, and revealing true intention and modus operandi. Who does your organisation exist to serve?

Survival in an Emergent paradigm demands honesty in all circumstances. And yet, countless organisations around the world don’t practise honesty as a basic premise for engaging with customers and stakeholders. Without honesty, you have no foundation for a relationship or for healthy social reinforcement.

Getting naked often comes with a simultaneous realisation that a lot of work is needed — work that might involve addressing and evolving outmoded systems, and eliminating unethical trade practices. Not surprisingly, the conscious awakening of an enterprise often results in a realignment of purpose and values.

Companies that aren’t naked run the risk of falling under the vehement spotlight of angry consumers and society. Called to account for their actions, the essential trust between brand and consumer fractures — or, worse, they perish in the wake of revolt.

The Volkswagen emissions scandal is a potent example of the lengths an organisation will go to mask the truth. As I detail in chapter 5, Volkswagen admitted to the installation of a ‘defeat device’ in diesel engines that could detect when they were being tested, changing the performance accordingly to improve results.

In stark contrast to the Volkswagen example, transformation can also begin with a disaster. This was demonstrated by Samsung’s extraordinary leadership when its Galaxy Note 7 began spontaneously combusting. The issue escalated into a crisis of global magnitude with the very real potential to bury their business. Instead, things played out differently.

First, as noted in the Forbes article ‘Samsung explains Note 7 battery explosions, and turns crisis into opportunity’, Samsung initiated a total recall of the Galaxy Note 7 and built a test lab to identify the root cause of the issue. A battery advisory group was established, which included leaders from universities and specialised consultants, in order to develop a multilayered safety measures protocol and eight-point battery safety system. Samsung has also committed to contributing learning and testing processes to various global standardisation bodies.

With their aggressive focus on a 100 per cent recall, not to mention absolute transparency and commitment to customer support throughout, Samsung had successfully recalled 96 per cent of the faulty devices as of January 2017, nothing short of extraordinary. Through quick action and taking responsibility for the problem, they have also gone a long way to rebuilding trust in the brand.

An interdependent model

The challenges associated with adopting an interdependent operating model are far more involved than simply managing the interface between products and customer. Rather, it is how we engage. The world outside, our real life, is constantly changing. There is so much opportunity and few barriers to participation. People connect, collaborate, and share. All the time. This might sound overly simplistic but does it really need to be complex to be valid? I asked Jonathan Fields to expand on these ideas. You can read his thoughts in the following sidebar.