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:
In past, valid knowledge equaled the sum of what people viewed, discovered, or learned.
Hack by Ellen Weber on October 18, 2010
Too often leaders think trust should flow one way: toward them. Instead, leaders should demonstrate trust in their coworkers first.
Hack by Gary Cohen on October 15, 2010
Good questions generate thought, focus, and action from the listener. They also convey respect. Is it any wonder that 95% of leaders prefer to be asked questions rather than told what to do?
Hack by Gary Cohen on October 15, 2010
This is a Hack about creating a collaborative community of trust online to spark innovations in management.
Hack by Dan Oestreich on October 11, 2010
There a 2 slides from the Equality Trust's "Spirit Level" web site.  They show the statistical co-relation between levels of trust and income inequality.  The core message is that in countri
Hack by John H Pearce on October 10, 2010
Increasing trust and reducing fear has a causal relationship to the meritocratic organization coupled to strong internal leadership.  Trust and fear is indicative of xenophobia endemic to the fir
Hack by Vidia S. Ramdeen on October 8, 2010
The widely held notion that the Chain of Command is no longer prevalent in the organizational dynamic is untrue.  Although many companies claim to not adhere to a formal organ
Hack by Vidia S. Ramdeen on October 6, 2010
Taking the road less traveled requires experience not only of knowing the rewards of success but also understand the impact of failure.
Hack by Anupam Kahol on October 1, 2010

Pages