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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 case study is about the horizontal management model developed and implemented at VAGAS, a Brazilian software company for the recruitment market, and its main underlying ideas.
Story by Mário Kaphan on March 31, 2014
With so many potential leaders yet very little innovation, what is holding leaders back?
Barrier by K. Lanier on October 17, 2012
You must read this hack in the order in which it is presented. You may only comment on it if you are registered to do so.
Hack by Simon Gosney on July 17, 2013
Understanding a company’s culture is a key component that leaders may ignore. When I took on a new role, an updated strategy was cited as top priority. What the team needed was a culture boost.
Story by Jonathan Becher on November 1, 2011
Entropy: a hypothetical tendency for the universe to attain a state of maximum homogenity in which all matter is uniform..Among all matter, gases have the highest entropy, they don't have a p
Hack by Abhijeet Sharma on October 14, 2011

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