We live in a time of paradox: Never has truth been more discoverable, yet we find ourselves debating whether we live in a “post-truth” era.
More information today sits in the palms of our hands than could have been gathered in a lifetime a few generations ago. The tools for uncovering facts — from data analytics to digital forensics — have improved exponentially, while the timeline for truth discovery has compressed from decades to hours.
And yet, rather than celebrating a journey toward enlightenment, we watch as AI becomes as famous for its deepfakes as for its ability to enhance the way we live and work.
This paradox makes little sense until we confront a simple possibility: Truth eludes us because we aren’t looking for it.
It’s not that we live in a post-fact world. Rather, it’s that our minds, our systems, and our cultures are so used to living in a pre-fact world that we have not adapted. We don’t yet recognize that while some truth is subjective, much of it no longer is. What we can now know with near certainty has grown exponentially. What once took investigative journalists years to uncover can now spread globally in minutes through digital networks and verification systems.
Pre-fact mindset, fact-rich world
Truth remains elusive because this transformation, on a human evolutionary time scale, has happened in an instant. With the expansion of the internet in the last 30 years, time for verification collapsed to minutes. However, our built-in instinct to rely on our gut, and on familiar voices and trusted individuals, persists despite the availability of verifiable data.
This isn’t merely habit — it’s an evolutionary adaptation that served us well for millennia, when verifiable facts were scarce. Our ancestors survived by trusting intuition and tribal wisdom over unknown sources, and these deeply ingrained patterns of trust and skepticism continue to shape how we process information today.
Back when access to facts was still limited, a few strategies would dominate. First, when seeking to convince others, we would appeal to their ingrained biases — whether confirmation bias, anchoring bias, or the bandwagon effect — where what feels tested and true emotionally trumps factual accuracy. Second, we would rely heavily on familiar individuals and personal relationships for validation, regardless of their expertise, rather than seek out new and diverse forms of knowledge. Third, hiding inconvenient truths would be a viable strategy, as the odds of discovery would be small and the consequences manageable.
These pre-fact behaviors are even more amplified with social media helping propagate emotional content over facts within siloed bubbles — and further compounded with AI, which makes it easier than ever for false narratives to proliferate.
The risks of avoiding truth
Many people are so used to operating without facts that they have convinced themselves they don’t exist. But for modern businesses, the implications of avoiding truth are increasingly dire.
Companies that do not evolve to making decisions based on deeply data-driven and fact-driven insights — used correctly — will make vastly worse decisions than companies that do. Companies are also at risk if they fail to recognize that in today’s deeply networked and digitalized world, all of their stakeholders — clients, investors, employees, and regulators — are always just a moment away from either uncovering their worst secret or hearing the worst lie their enemies could spread about them.
In a world unable or unwilling to look facts in the face, truth itself has become a critical part of the value proposition companies can deliver to customers and clients.
A to-do list for truth-seekers
Here are five steps organizations should take on their truth-seeking journeys:
First, establish an organizational culture in which truth-seeking is not just encouraged but expected and psychologically safe. Meetings should surface uncomfortable truths, and recommendations should be reviewed and challenged across multiple functions to foster diversity of thought and healthy skepticism.
Second, stay focused on where truth really matters. Pursuing accuracy can still be complex and costly to the point of distraction. Rather than attempting to verify everything, home in on the information that most impacts critical business decisions — including information about where your competitors are delivering more value.
Third, invest in the right data, systems, and decision procedures to uncover the truths that matter most. This starts with clear standards for mission-critical data — from collection to analysis — and extends to building up insights teams and conducting regular auditing of key decision-making procedures. The most successful organizations actively seek out information that could prove their critical assumptions wrong.
Fourth, actively identify vulnerabilities, whether buried facts or potential falsehoods, and be prepared to act if those come to light. This requires consistent investment and rigorous verification processes to map out vulnerabilities. It’s equally critical to develop the ability to rapidly counter disinformation.
Finally, treat truth as an asset, recognizing that customers are also struggling to adjust to today’s world. Although truth is more discoverable than ever, fiction can be manufactured even faster and with less investment — making truth an increasingly precious commodity. Companies that position themselves as authentic sources of insight will build lasting trust with their stakeholders.
The transition from a world where truth was out of reach to one where it is accessible requires more than just new tools. It demands a fundamental and long-overdue shift in how we think, operate, and lead. Organizations that embrace this shift will become trusted advisers, helping them not only survive but thrive. The choice facing leaders today isn’t whether to embrace truth but how quickly to adapt their organizations to this new reality in which truth isn’t just available — it’s inevitable.