Business Leaders Should Fight Back Against the Anti-Science Cultural Movement
It’s time we elevated anti-science rhetoric in the workplace to the same level as racist, sexist, homophobic or xenophobic rhetoric. Not to sound too melodramatic, but it’s one of the ways you can fight back in the ongoing war on science that the current administration at the head of the United States federal government seems intent on waging.
By eradicating anti-science rhetoric from your workplace, you can help train the current and next generation of fighters in this ongoing battle against sound scientific findings.
The reason you should want to help out in the battle is because the health of the very planet you and your children live on depends on it.
This isn’t some radical, far off notion that we can worry about later. This is us killing the planet right now and the people in charge of the biggest economy in the world plugging their ears and shutting their eyes.
- The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report: ignored.
- The National Climate Assessment report done by the US government itself: dismissed.
- The Paris Climate Change Accord: abandoned.
If this doesn’t make you angry, you’re part of the problem. Government leaders in the US are failing that country and the world catastrophically and business leaders need to act.
Author Andrew Winston, who helps companies with their sustainability efforts, has said in a Harvard Business Review article that the extent of the climate catastrophe will depend largely on how businesses respond over the next decade.
And he’s right.
Where government fails, the private sector can — and should — step in.
Cutting down on wasteful packaging, making processes more environmentally friendly and encouraging innovation with an eye toward sustainability are all great and necessary ways to try and address manmade climate change that businesses should adopt, but there is more that we can do. And it’s becoming increasingly clear that people want to see brands they like take a stand on social issues like the environment.
The 2018 Cox Business Consumer Pulse on Small Businesses survey, which polled 1,100 consumers, found that 71 percent of respondents would spend extra money with a brand that supported a positive social or environmental cause. (The caveat being that the cause would have to be in line with the consumer’s own beliefs.)
Another report, CEO Activism in 2018: The Purposeful CEO, done by Weber Shandwick and KRC Research, reported that 38 percent of respondents viewed so-called CEO activism as favourable and 39 percent said they believed CEOs have a responsibility to speak out about things they believe in. It also found that 46 percent of respondents said they would be more likely to make a purchase from a brand whose CEO has taken a stance on an issue they agree with. The survey polled 1,006 adults across the USA online.
All this is to say that CEOs and business leaders no longer have to be wary of potentially controversial subjects, especially those that your general audience also feel strongly about and that will land your business on the right side of history.
Starbucks virtually shut down for racial sensitivity training, Patagonia actually sued the federal government over environmental stewardship of land in Utah and Dick’s Sporting Goods ceased the sale of assault rifles in its stores after one of the countless mass shootings in the US.
Which brings me to something very dear to my heart that I hope is also dear to yours: science. Or, more importantly, the continued trust in scientifically sound data to help shape government policy, particularly when it comes to the environment.
Anti-Scientism
I don’t need to tell you that there is an anti-science movement at the top of the US government that trickles down into general society. The president is a manmade climate change denier and whenever the subject of manmade climate change comes up you will see people of all backgrounds frothing at the mouth to deny its existence.
With such blatant anti-science rhetoric from the very top of the US government, it behooves business leaders to fill the gap and make sure they are doing their parts to counteract it.
Four ways that you can counteract anti-science rhetoric, borrowed from Winston, include:
- Lobbying all levels of government to enact pro-climate policies.
- Publicly supporting scientists and the work they do.
- Engaging your consumers about science.
- Investing in carbon reduction.
Digging a bit deeper, let’s talk about how business leaders can support science and scientists.
1. Teach employees about the science in their work lives.
Virtually all businesses use some kind of science, even if it’s just in their marketing. I suspect much of the distrust of science comes down to people not knowing how it affects their daily lives. Show your employees the science behind how your company does what it does. This will help illustrate to employees that science can be trusted and it’s being used in their everyday lives.
Much like how high school students don’t think they’ll ever use the advanced math they’re learning, people tend not to think about the science happening all around them. But, even when you cook something, build a house or do market research to design your next ad campaign, there are scientific processes at work.
2. Talk about anti-science rhetoric in your policies.
You wouldn’t put up with racism or sexism in your place of work, so why put up with discrimination against science? Make it official policy in your place of work that anti-science talk has no place in your business. Obviously, you’d need to tread carefully, but the simple act of having it as official policy still gives it weight and lets employees know that you, as a leader, trust the hard work of scientists and your company supports it.
3. Speak out about organizations that try to downplay science.
In the current climate, this might very well mean speaking out against the federal government itself in the US. So be it. You can also support climate scientists and their right to speak by donating to Let Science Speak.
4. Don’t stay silent about it.
Because then you’re just part of the problem.
If you are a business leader and you care about what we’re doing to this planet, don’t just ignore anti-science rhetoric in your business, because it is your business.
