Do you avoid spreading the harmful “Business as Usual” script in your communication?

Business as Usual shares half-truths to dodge accountability

The Ocean Cleanup

The story of The Ocean Cleanup feels hopeful at first. Since 2013, it has removed more than 45,000 metric tons of plastic from the ocean. And its ambition goes further: aiming to remove over 90% of floating plastic by 2040.

On the surface, it looks like exactly the kind of bold, scalable solution the world needs. But when you zoom out, the picture shifts. Every day, over 40,000 metric tons of plastic still enter the oceans. That’s almost the same amount the project has managed to remove in more than a decade. Cleaning up plastic is necessary, but it doesn’t address the core issue: production keeps outpacing removal.

Pretending this a full solution in your communication is, at best, incomplete. And then there’s the question of funding. The initiative is backed by major players like Coca-Cola and investors such as Peter Thiel. That isn’t incidental. It reflects a broader pattern: solutions that treat symptoms are easier to support than those that challenge the system producing the problem in the first place. Meanwhile, the deeper driver, an economy built on endless growth and consumption, stays largely untouched.

That’s what “Business as Usual” communication looks like: partial truths that protect the system.

Future Entrepreneurs take systemic responsibility in their communication

Infomaniak

Now contrast that with a very different kind of company. Infomaniak, a Swiss cloud provider that is employee-owned, takes a radically more honest stance. Despite running on 100% renewable energy, cooling their data centers with outside air, extending server lifespans to 15 years, and even compensating 200% of their CO₂ emissions, they openly admit: "we still pollute".

No greenwashing. No hiding behind relative improvements. Instead of presenting themselves as “sustainable,” they point out that current climate standards for companies simply don’t go far enough. And they actively try to raise the bar, not just for themselves, but for others too.

That’s a completely different narrative. Not: “look how well we’re doing within the current system.” But: “the system itself is the problem and we’re part of it.” That kind of communication doesn’t protect Business as Usual but challenges it.

What you can do

If you want to communicate more like a Future Entrepreneur here are some practical tips:

• Name the root causes, not just the symptoms
  Don’t stop at what you can see on the surface. Keep asking what structures, incentives, and growth models are actually producing the problem in the first place.
• Be honest about impact and trade-offs from a system's lens
  Acknowledge where you still fall short, even if you’re improving. Avoid narratives that turn partial progress into “solution stories” or hide real compromises.
• Communicate your responsibility, not just your activity
  Don’t confuse doing something with solving something. Be transparent about who benefits from your story, and use your platform to raise standards rather than to polish your own image.