In a previous blog piece, we spoke of how ‘Technology has made great progress in removing the necessity for humans to store and retain information; whether it is in accounting, manufacturing, or navigating.’

With the freeing up of our brain bandwidth this week we turn to the identity of humanity in ‘Authenticity’. It’s often a marketing word that is thrown around to ‘be real’ in a hyperconnected Instagram filtered world. It begs the question of what does it mean to be authentic?

Authenticity. Is to bring your best self. Without the mask, attitude or ego. This extends to the ‘human touch’ and with digital platforms making certain aspects of our lives easier they do not replace the nuanced expertise of a real live person.

A.I. doesn’t offer thoughtful suggestions or anecdotes from past experiences. They can’t give an honest opinion or reassure you that the choices you are making are good ones or share experiences that might contribute to a more inclusive workplace. 

For many coming out of an industrial, production line mentality, with decades of being told to fit in and toe the proverbial company line. To be ‘yourself’ is quite confronting.

To stay relevant and stand out is to be yourself.

At Earth2Mars one of our points of difference is that we bring our full authentic selves to ‘change’ delivery.

On occasion we’ve been told by prospective clients to ‘tone it down’ this results in a conversation that generally makes us question their commitment to authenticity when we are asked to be less authentic. It’s unfortunate that in some cases we find ourselves walking away from companies misaligned and typically only investing in ‘change’ for show and not really to make a long-lasting difference like many of our force-for-good clients.

The beauty of bringing human-centred design into our change practice also keeps the authentic human at the centre of the solution focus.

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