It's time to reinvent management. You can help.

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.

Filter By:
As legacy business thinking attempts to stagger away from the ingrained practices of the Industrial era towards modernity nothing is in need of a more radical re-assessment than the view of the employ
Hack by Mike Parker on April 10, 2016
There’s plenty of material on the Internet about what fear is, but for the purposes of this Hack, let’s call it the ‘barrier to change.’ After reading a lot of great articles and books the message is
Hack by Pumuka Reid on December 5, 2011
Corporate Intrapreneurship Programs will keep good people within the company and empower new business models.
Hack by Erik Wirsing on April 3, 2018
Whilst we are almost out of the financial crisis, businesses are still struggling to meet their targets and are more focused on pleasing the shareholders by meeting their quarterly targets and gains .
Hack by Alfred Francisco on May 8, 2012
(this hack is available as a Powerpoint - see materials)In the last 40 years complexity thinking and sociology have given us new ways to understand uncertainty and the relationship between sc
Hack by Douglas Board on July 17, 2013
Remove the secrecy, fear, and mistrust that too frequently accompany organizational change. Use change to build morale rather than weaken it.
Hack by Leslie-Ann Bergstrom on September 20, 2010
In order to reinvent management, we have to replace the root cause of its current function. One of these root causes is the fact that manager's job is to create wealth for shareholders.
Hack by Matt Shlosberg on September 5, 2010
An alternative approach to setting remuneration levels for employees, based strongly on employees own evaluation of what they are worth, and what they have done performance wise to earn any additional
Hack by Chris Van Kooten on December 9, 2011

Pages