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Increase trust, reduce fear

“The most critical challenge for any organization is to enlarge the circle of trust.”

Command-and-control systems reflect a deep mistrust of employees’ commitment and competence. They also tend to overemphasize sanctions as a way of forcing compliance. That’s why so many organizations are filled with anxious employees who are hesitant to take the initiative or trust their own judgment. Organizational adaptability, innovation, and employee engagement can only thrive in a high-trust, low-fear culture. In such an environment, information is widely shared, contentious opinions are freely expressed, and risk taking is encouraged. Fear paralyzes, mistrust demoralizes—they must be wrung out of our management systems.

124 Stories
236 Hacks
22 Barriers

Increase trust, reduce fear

“The most critical challenge for any organization is to enlarge the circle of trust.”

Command-and-control systems reflect a deep mistrust of employees’ commitment and competence. They also tend to overemphasize sanctions as a way of forcing compliance. That’s why so many organizations are filled with anxious employees who are hesitant to take the initiative or trust their own judgment. Organizational adaptability, innovation, and employee engagement can only thrive in a high-trust, low-fear culture. In such an environment, information is widely shared, contentious opinions are freely expressed, and risk taking is encouraged. Fear paralyzes, mistrust demoralizes—they must be wrung out of our management systems.

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How often did I hear managers tell me that the way they had to behave did not reflect who they were any longer, their behaviour was dictated by the system they were in, it was coming from the top down
Hack by Olivier Lavergne on December 1, 2010
Our society is obsessed with celebrities and their many faults, but to what extent.
Story by L. Blake Harvey on June 30, 2011
In the past 10+ years I have not met a single organisation that does not work with external 3rd parties in some form e.g. cloud service, channel distribution, product dev, legal etc.
Hack by Ian Stobie on April 30, 2012
 The name tax is seen as a burden or a levy,  on subjects in the olden days paid to kings and queens.
Hack by Emeka Ikwukeme on September 26, 2017
What would our sector look like if we gave our value proposition a little twist? What would the results be like?
Hack by Luc Galoppin on July 16, 2011
On December 12, Google's home page noted the birthday of Robert Noyce, co-founder of Intel.
Story by Joe Marchese on December 13, 2011
At the centre of innovation are people in all their forms; however, much of the references to people being at the heart of our organisations pay lip-service to what it truly means to realise a people-
Story by Ian Fergus on June 10, 2013
A new model of engaging with the public about managing access to health records is required.
Hack by Ruth Kibble on February 20, 2014
As a front line supervisor, I have reconciled myself to this greatest of issues with employees; you are not treating me/us fairly. The company is not treating me/us fairly.
Story by Jim McGriff, Jr. on March 14, 2016
Instead of managers occupying a level above front-line workers, why not have them work under and for them? 
Hack by Josh Harrington on September 19, 2010

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