The Message of Trust

Dov Seidman’s book, How: Why How We Do Anything Means Everything, has some of the best information for organizational leaders in the new Web 2.0 economy. Like the The Cluetrain Manifesto before it, How describes the evolution of the business world from the hierarchical methods of the Industrial Revolution to the interconnected methods of the Information Society.

Trust has become the currency of today’s business world, and is expressed in the culture of the businesses or organizations that we are part of. This series of articles will explore what Seidman calls “The Five Hows of Culture“:

1. How we know
2. How we behave
3. How we relate
4. How we recognize
5. How we pursue

The amount of trust that exists in your organization reflects your leadership style and its effect on the culture of your group. This culture that you create will reach into the areas of communication, office politics, teamwork, professional development, and the growth of your business. I want to start with Information Management – how institutional knowledge is created, used, and communicated through the organization. The influence of culture on the use of Information and the method of Communication is profound, and can mean the difference between thriving and mere survival.

The culture of Blind Obedience

The old-fashioned style of management represented by the towering organizational chart is a culture in which information tends to be locked away, accessible only to the elite. Top managers keep things to themselves, parceling out information in the form of arbitrary memos and policies. The line employees are expected to crank their widgets and the middle managers are stuck in between, enforcing rules on those below and generating mountains of reports for those above. Almost no one knows where the company is, let alone where it is supposed to be going.

The culture of Informed Acquiescence

The operations of most of today’s companies reflects the imposition of this second model of culture. Interconnected computer networks allow employees to communicate efficiently with each other, and there tends to be much more vertical communication as well. There is still a set of barriers in place, however, primarily between the company and its customers, but also between departments that may be competing for funding or recognition. Organizational goals are released on a “need-to-know” basis, and departmental information tends to be kept close as well.

The culture of Self-governance

Today’s society demands transparency. More and more is required by the consumers of the global economy, and some companies and organizations are rising to the occasion. With open systems for sharing information, these organizations put the power of knowledge in the hands of those best able to use it. These same members are then not only responsible for contributing to overall business success, they are empowered to make decisions in order to do so. Seidman describes it this way:

“In a world where your Hows matter most, governing through culture puts the opportunity to exceed expectations in the hands of those who can make the diference.”

Which kind of culture to you work in? Do you recognize yourself in any of these descriptions? Let’s discuss the following in the Comments.

• How much information is shared with all of the employees?
• Do Salespeople have access to company-wide information from last week? Last month? Last year?
• Do the support and logistics team members know how they can contribute to improving Sales performance? Improving customer service?
• Do the Customer Service folks know how their jobs impact Sales and profits?
• Can a member of one department communicate easily with someone in another, or do they have to negotiate gatekeepers?
• Who generates and who responds to suggestions for improving your organization?
• Who in your organization is authorized to speak to a customer, in order to resolve a complaint or simply to enhance that customer’s experience?
• Can a customer have a conversation with an employee, or they forced to interact with canned email responses and form letters?

The availability of information and the openness of conversation with a company or organization indicates the level of trust that exists, and the potential for success in the Web 2.0 economy.

(Stephen Smith writes about Productivity, Web 2.0 and the Future of Work at his website – HD BizBlog 1.2)