Trust

Yesterday we had our first paper due for class. The topic was trust in organizations. We were asked to review one of two articles that we read from HBR. The first article was about the suggestion that humans are hard wired to enter into social interactions and therefore trust. Some people trust too much and others do not trust enough and finding the appropriate balance. The second article was discussing how organizations should create a climate of candor or trust because it will "improve performance".

The paper and discussions that followed brought up excellent ideas around what role trust should play in an organization. Yes, we talk about management, leadership, communication, etc everyday in business, but what role should trust play? Obviously on some level we need to have some amount of trust with our immediate employee teams, but should the organization as a whole place trust in ALL employees just simply because they managed to get hired? Would an organization with a more rigorous hiring process be more likely to trust its employees because they had to work harder to become a part of the organization? Tons of questions around this issue and yet, the authors believe that trust is the next generation for organizational growth...
I just hope that the prof likes my paper... Okay, and I had fun writing it. It was the first time since I started the program that I actually felt a bit crunched to get something done. AND I had a bit of a panic attack after the second class when we set up a total of 4 different groups with which we have to write papers and deliver presentations. Oh, and did I mention that we have not even STARTED our third class yet? We meet the prof for the first time on Friday. I am actually really excited because it is an eLearning class. Right up my alley! Yippee! AND I get to go to school more this week. Later...