I am beautiful - aren’t I?

You’re out on a date. You know the (man/woman) opposite you only slightly. They appear interesting and you are paying close attention to everything they say. Each sentence is helping you build a quick-fit image of their personality. Then out of the blue – ‘I am beautiful aren’t I’. It’s so preposterous you’d not believe it could even happen. But it does…

I have resisted bloging for some years. Colleagues beg me to keep my thoughts to myself or at least in the company. They worry about losing their bonus. A blog for your bonus? This blog will mostly be about CR (corporate responsibility to the innocent). It’s a field where few are speaking their minds anymore. So much effort is going in to consensus building (and money making) that critical comment has all but evaporated.

The golden rule for companies talking or writing about their own environmental and social behaviour – is humility. Do not blow you own trumpet. Do not tell your audience how great you are. And above all do not claim leadership. It’s the nature of the subject that people will make their own judgements about the appeal of a company. Telling them you are a great employer is unconvincing. Telling them your pension fund is fully financed might score a point. Indeed making your own mind up is the only reward a reader has for ploughing through the turgid company CR reports and websites.

If you are involved in CR you probably subscribe to one or both of the email services that deliver newly minted CR reports to your inbox. Why on earth do they send these things out on a Friday afternoon? Is it like government slipping out an embarrassing news release under cover of a bigger news story? Are they actually hoping you won’t click the link to their latest collection of ‘homilies, platitudes and soft assurances’(as the MacDonalds CR report was once described).Either that or they are so removed from the real world that they actually imagine Friday afternoon is a prime CR report reading opportunity. Beer after work or group CR report reading anyone?

So mostly I ignore the Friday pm CR spam. But recently one popped up I could not ignore. Heading, ‘The best in sustainability reporting just got better!’Wrong, wrong, wrong. Adidas can’t even claim to have been the best, never winning any of the respected benchmarks like UNEP or ACCA. In fact I recall their previous effort being distinctly flimsy. Even if they were the best and had actually improved – this would be a cringe-making headline. But in their case it’s delusional. Why would you want to spend even one minute reading the report from a company that announces itself so presumptuously? Would you believe a word or figure inside?

When it comes to CR (and personal beauty) best leave the judgement to the eye of the beholder.

Sage