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:
It’s a generally-followed practice for managers to make reward decisions about their direct reports.  This encourages a manager’s direct reports to withhold (in part, or in total) certain informa
Hack by Team 4 LBS/Semba2011 on January 9, 2011
Even if companies officially ask their workforce to be a driver of innovation, they seldom act accordingly and rather punish "out-of-the-box" actions.
Hack by Ile Tovaglieri on January 9, 2011
Allow employees to occassionally work from their home office or alternate location to promote a culture of trust and recognize they lead busy lives.
Hack by Sheryle Gillihan on January 5, 2011
My innovation audit produced outcomes that people did not want to hear. Come with me on the journey that positively creates a framework/vision to take my organisation forward.&n
Hack by David Nolan on December 23, 2010
The truth – you can’t handle the truth’ bellows the colonel in the aptly named film ‘A Few Good Men’.  But the sentiment isn’t restrict
Hack by Mark Young on December 22, 2010
Leaders must act as facilitators and have the ability to give up control and bestow empowerment and autonomy to its workforce.
Hack by Allan Pollard on December 17, 2010
A bottom-up approach in which the employees in each department "draft" their Manager and Supervisors, given certain limitations. The draft occurs every six months, fostering renewa
Hack by Justin Astrin on December 13, 2010
I would love to study the effects of implementing an unlimited vacation days policy in different professional environments, from small businesses to mega corporations.  There are many differ
Hack by Khalid Ashour on December 11, 2010
Set clear objectives to foster trust and sense of ownership therefore incentivizing managers to act as business owners, hence maximizing value creation
Hack by Albert Canela on December 9, 2010

Pages