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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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This is the story of an OD consulting firm founded in the Middle East.
Story by Marwa Farouq on September 30, 2010
Business professors think I am out of my mind, but I think business professors are out of their mind if they think that models they teach in business school really work.
Hack by Matt Shlosberg on September 6, 2010
Many great ideas for what needs to be done or fixed at an organization get suggested.But never in any formal forum - the best ideas often come up when out for drinks, or in furtive cubicle conversatio
Barrier by Eric Nehrlich on April 16, 2010
In areas where obsolescence is quick and products and services have lifetime very short, why spending effort and resources writing, signing, registering contracts that will be useless pretty soon?
Hack by Miguel Sacramento on May 1, 2010
Bilateral and multilateral donors and NGOs re-write the rules of the International Development Cooperation System to unleash the real potential of markets and the private sector to end poverty at a la
Hack by Lucho Osorio-Cortes on March 2, 2012
If I asked you a make a list of high performing teams - the kind that deliver world class results under tremendous pressure every day, chances are, a management committee wouldn't feature.
Hack by Stephen Remedios on November 1, 2011
Our Hack was inspired by Coens & Jenkin’s book “Abolishing Performance Appraisals.”  There are several other academic books and papers, blog postings, and even hacks that recommend doing away
Hack by Andy Lippok on July 16, 2013
Get leaders truly working for their teams, rather than the other way around.
Hack by Leslie-Ann Bergstrom on September 21, 2010
In modern societies, job precarity has become more and more the norm.
Hack by IMD MBA Group 2 on November 7, 2010

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