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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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To varying degrees, everyone has self-centered ambitions: to become rich and famous, to win the race, to have some power over others. Such forces can drive people to work hard and produce results.
Hack by Tsukasa Makino on July 17, 2011
Empower to Improve seeks to mitigate large hospital bills for uninsured and underinsured patients with chronic conditions that could be easily managed with better preventive care practices.
Hack by Trey Morris on March 3, 2014
Knowing where to start, what model to use, metrics, governance, development, external resources, etc, etc, etc. can be overwhelming for an organization that wants to thrive in an idea economy.
Story by Garrick Ducat on June 13, 2016
The hierarchical structures with in organizations often place accountability and responsibility with managers and executives, leaving the rest of the organization to follow what has been set as b
Story by Thabiso Ramashala on November 2, 2010
The story here does not begin with "once upon a time..." here,  goes more like: "Hey pals! Let´s do a company which works in a different way.
Story by Daniel Pérez Pérez on April 14, 2012
Top executives’ tentatively agree on the BIG Rocks (strategic changes).  Then provide the Big Rocks to managers and staff and ask them to identify what they think are the Big Rocks.  The res
Hack by George Neufeld on November 27, 2012
Once upon a time there was a matchstick factory. It was not huge, nor had it ever been very profitable.
Story by Bernhard Sterchi on April 16, 2017
A well-known consulting firm in urban and rural planning was losing momentum as many of its consultants were approaching retirement. Based on a tailored customer survey, ValueMetrix provided the
Story by Anders Magnusson on October 6, 2010
To bring about a person’s full capacity is true motivation.  In order to accomplish such a goal an incentive program in which personalized incentives are executed for each employee will result in
Hack by Devin Stewart on March 15, 2011

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