I received
quite a few comments from readers on my last blog post. One reader asked the
following questions:
Has trust lost its value in today’s society?
If trust is lost, can it be regained?
In the
political arena, polls are often cited to reflect high percentage numbers when
it comes to the “non-trusting” of politicians. The media is then quick to cite
high poll numbers for the “like-ability” of a candidate. In other words,
society seems to be saying, “I may not trust you, but I still think you are
good person.” Yet, how can you trust a political candidate’s integrity if you
can’t trust or value their decision-making?
Trust,
Integrity and Truth are the foundation for a successful company culture. Yet, this foundation can be broken down
quickly by one person’s lack of honesty – or lack of trusted truth. There is a major negative human and
economic impact for an individual, a company or organization when trust is
lost.
We see how lack
of trust bleeds into various industry sectors. In the restaurant sector, for
example, business at Chipotle continues to be seriously affected by the 2015
outbreak of foodborne illness, despite the establishment of strict food safety
measures. In the car industry, Takata airbags is the focus of the largest
auto recall in history. More than
a dozen different automakers have been forced to recall cars with its products
installed. 69 million Takata airbags have been recalled or will be recalled by
2019 in the United States alone.
The root
cause of these “trust breakdowns” is very simple: a lack of truth; a lack of
confidence to speak the truth—even when it may conflict with the direction of
management. While many rely on the convenience of modern technology to detect
possible failures in a system, these cases show the root cause is often human error.
This is why it is so important for a business or organization to build their
team on a trusted foundation with the same mission to challenge one another and
create an environment that is comfortable for sharing diverse ideas while
others willingly listen.
Trust is not something a machine creates.
Human integrity and ingenuity create a machine you can trust. Collaborating on
new ideas and innovations fosters the future of a company or business.
