atest post from Dr. Cherry Vu over on FB in Vietnamese. A colleague of ours, who is also a consultant, shared:
Talking with a friend the other night, we discussed the challenges we face in organizations. I suggested that most of these challenges, if you dig deep enough, stem from treating people as if they are untrustworthy.
Before reacting by saying that you would never treat people that way, take a step back and ask yourself:
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If everyone working for me was trustworthy, what would the processes my employees go through look like?
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How would my product processes operate?
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How would recruitment work?
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How would compensation be structured?
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How would information be stored?
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Who would be empowered to make critical decisions? Who would actually make them?
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This is also my general impression when starting to work with organizations. I often hear, “We value people here,” but in reality, I often see common issues:
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Excessive layers of approval.
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Over-control in every area, leading to a lack of smooth workflow.
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Inefficient information flow.
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Top-down decision-making, where frontline employees are rarely empowered to make decisions related to their work (responsibility is given without authority).
All these symptoms are the result of a lack of trust. Systems, processes, and regulations are built on the assumption that people cannot be trusted.
I often tell my clients that if you distill everything about new, open, and flexible ways of working, one word stands out: TRUST.
We need to build a system where people are not constrained, where they have the freedom and authority needed to make decisions and fully leverage their capabilities.
Without trust in people, you cannot manage differently — in a better way — or become a faster, more efficient, safer, and happier business.