Hi 

 

 

 

 

How often do you hear people say, "they should be more transparent" or "we ought to be more transparent?" So, what are we not being transparent about? Why aren't we like nature itself? In nature there is no such thing as transparency, it is innate!.. nature is there, in full high-definition reality, all the time. 

 

The concept of transparency is man-made; a feature that has evolved, and continues to. It seems that as we have developed our technologies, institutions, professions, social skills and societies, in ever increasingly complex ways, so too has our need for some level of opaqueness?!

 

How else might we avoid the issues of not being able to cope with all this complexity, not looking like we have all the answers, covering for the mistakes we make, the shortcuts we have to take...or the unfair advantages we have accrued or inherited? Perhaps the opaqueness is part of our plan, our business and our success?

 

There is much more to transparency than we can cover in a short article, so today we want to drill into two specific questions:

 

At the formal end of the spectrum, we have organisations like Transparency International NZ ,whose mission is to eliminate bribery and corruption through a range of activities, including increasing awareness of that which is morally and legally wrong and advocating for ongoing development of organisational cultures that support truth telling. According to their website, New Zealand is the 3rd least corrupt country in the world, slightly behind Finland and Denmark, while we remain a highly trusted entity in the Pacific.

 

Such organisations play a significant role collecting data, publishing reports, education and generally encouraging organisations to play by the rules and being able to show that they are doing so. This is an extremely valuable contribution to society and the economy in general. It helps our trade relationships and must save the country a lot of money.

 

And then there are those in the legal profession that are advocating for increasing the exposure and prosecution of those who are perpetuating climate change and environmental harms. This movement is gaining momentum and by virtue of the judicial process is likely to lead to further and ongoing public airing of dirty laundry! 

 

 

Although this is good news, if we are concerned about ongoing exposure and prosecution of poor business as usual behaviour, we are left wondering if this is enough? Are we making ecological overshoot and our lack of action transparent enough? ...what progress are we making on the existential threats the world faces? 

 

Much of what we read in Corporate ESG (Environmental Social Governance) and CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) reports might purport to be baring the organisations inner most secrets about all of the good things it is doing and planning to do about Climate change, emissions and equity, while it continues with business as usual. What we are probably getting is some carbon counting, green-wash and weasel words crafted by the marketing department. Nothing illegal or corrupt... just playing the game...at the edge of ethics and well short of meaningful change.

 

So on the one hand organisations - particularly commercial ones - can officially 'be transparent'...whereas in reality, they are knowingly continuing with harmful activities (perpetuating ecological overshoot) just waiting for the day that someone catches on and forces them to change. At which point they say "Oh yeah, of course, good point, we'll get on to that immediately!" 

 

But, what if we look beyond what is lawful and unlawful? What if we based our standards of transparency, our values, processes and products on what is scientifically and morally aligned with the real transition to a prosperous and sustainable future in-sync with nature. One that avoids ecological overshoot? Might that different degree of transparency be what society and people are really wanting? YES!

 

Would that degree of honesty and grit create the conditions for a new level of commitment, real transition innovation, and go way beyond kicking the can down the road?  (previous article) We think it would go a long way in the right direction.

 

 

 

Facebook, Instagram, Tik-tok and Twitter (and a mass of other social media platforms) have completely changed the landscape when it comes to levels of access to virtually every aspect of modern life. Get caught on camera for anything out of the ordinary and you can become a villain or hero to millions, overnight. Just look at Johnny and Amber!

 

So while social media might have radically changed the world, it is itself just a part of a bigger machine. What and how we communicate, find information, learn, reinforce or change beliefs, all comes through channels and platforms such as - broadcast and online news and general media, online retail and business systems, downloadable applications, and large institutional platforms...that employ incredible amounts of compute power.

 

In this arena, others may know more about what we are going to do next, than we do ourselves. That already seems to be a perverse type of transparency?! And while this is staggering - it is still about business as usual and not about overshoot activity and transition.

 

A relentless developing integration between technology capabilities is at play:

This accumulation is automatically increasing transparency of our lives and activities in totality, while in many cases only a few parts of the puzzle are required now (to create a view of someone or something), with artificial intelligence filling in the gaps for the system owner.

 

 

Taking all of this into account, we are beginning to think that, as transparency increases over time, there is a huge opportunity to get ahead of the game, ride the wave as it were, by discovering your true and real transition and being on that pathway.

 

If it is going to be happening anyway, and we are headed for a day when we are just like nature itself (transparency doesn't have to exist)... why not get on that track for that time?

 

Perhaps being naturally open and in sync with each other and nature on a regenerative path to the future would set us free? Imagine being:

 

This weeks quote:

 

                                                                            - Plato

 

 

The Edge is coming up to its 100th article in a few weeks. Please let us know what topic you would love to see covered. Just hit the reply key and let us know your thoughts.

 

Thanks