GIVE ME YOUR GOLD
I want to tell you a silly little story. Then I want you to tell me an important one.
Remember the ‘Volkswagen emissions scandal’ of 2015, where one of the world’s largest car manufacturers used tech tricks to ‘cheat’ diesel emissions tests in America?
Thanks to a sensor device, engines ran at lower performance under lab conditions, switching to normal driving mode on roads and emitting nitrogen oxide pollutants up to 40x permitted levels. An average news site skimmer wouldn’t have seen the story if those cars had been Alfa Romeos or Fiats. But the reason you remember it is because it was Volkswagen – a car company with a global reputation for trustworthiness, solidity and consistency.
What you say isn’t who you are. What you do is who you are.
Their own slogan, for decades: ‘If only everything in life was as reliable as a Volkswagen’. All undone in a few weeks of scandal. Because product builds brand. It doesn’t work the other way round.
That’s why you couldn’t launch a new car company as ‘the world’s most reliable vehicles’. It’s why super-rich football clubs in the Middle East can’t claim to be ‘bigger’ than Real Madrid or Manchester United. It’s why I couldn’t convince you to come and work for Matt’s Civil Engineering Surveying Services – even if I promised you the position of CEO.
Nobody has driven those cars. Those clubs have won no trophies. And – thankfully – I’m yet to secure even one modestly sized survey contract. Because product builds brand. What you say isn’t who you are. What you do is who you are.
So, consider the CICES golden threads:
- Sustainability
- Digitalisation
- Equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI).
Our website says that ‘throughout the coming decades, [the golden threads] will be woven through all we do’. But what you won’t see on our site, are many examples of this.
I know you and other CICES members have been involved in groundbreaking projects that showcase best practice and innovation. Your institution is packed with people helping lead the way in these three areas, working on things worth shouting about. And I know nothing about them.
I want to hold up the things our members do as shining examples of sustainability, digitalisation and EDI, so that:
- Others in your sector and related professions can see that being a member of CICES means setting an example.
- School-aged kids wondering how they can have a positive impact on society can learn that CICES members are doing that right now.
- When people ask a non-pro like me what CICES members do – I can show them, not just trip over words trying to tell them.
Saying the names of our golden threads isn’t building our brand. But highlighting occasions of them being applied, or used as a springboard for positive change could start to. If you’ve worked on something – big or small – that has raised standards, challenged conventions or driven better ways of working, tell me the story. It might make a compelling press release, or an engaging article for this journal or an infographic that inspires others.
The CICES motto is: ‘We measure everything we see’. Why not let everyone see what you’ve been measuring?
Got a project or internal initiative incorporating sustainability, digitalisation or EDI that we can talk about? Then please get in touch.