4 Ways ‘Fake It Till You Make It’ Culture is Killing Your Sustainability Programme

My booster shot left me stuck in bed over a weekend recently… during which I binge-watched the Netflix series “Inventing Anna” with deep fascination and frustration. Based on true events, the drama recounts the story of a pretend German heiress, Anna Delvey, who duped supposedly savvy members of New York’s elite into believing she was an old money trust fund kid.

Throughout this gripping tale, I kept asking myself — how did she fool so many? Aren’t New Yorkers supposed to be smarter than this? How did none of these people see through her pretenses?

Slowly, I began to notice parallels in my own field of work. There have been more “ESG specialists” minted in the past year than possibly the whole of the last century.

Where niche professions (and parts of society) are concerned — most people (just like Anna Delvey’s victims) cannot tell the real deal from a fake. Hiring managers rarely know what skills, training, education, experience, characteristics to look for in a new sustainability related role. And, just as in Anna Delvey’s case, charisma tends to win out… up to a point.

We, my fellow sustainability practitioners and I, find ourselves increasingly asking questions along the lines of: What was Company A thinking when they hired a language major into a role that demands foundations in engineering?; ESG Vice President whose last five roles were internships?; A philanthropy specialist for a role that requires training in risk/sustainable finance? How low is the bar?

More importantly, what are the unspoken ramifications of this trend?

• Staff Attrition — Hiring unsuitable candidates into senior-level/leadership roles can trigger an exodus of experienced staff and subject matter experts.
• Talent Attraction — Companies that are guilty of (1) are at risk of being secretly blacklisted by experienced professionals.
• Higher Costs — Owing to an excessive dependence on external consultants, i.e. in lieu of in-house expertise.
• It Begins to Show— In the deteriorating quality of the company’s programme, disclosures, policies and practices, risk management, etc.