Runs on PeoplePlaybooks / People
Trust
Do people tell the truth, early?
Weak
Quiet meetings, late surprises, and the real conversation happening after the meeting.
Strong
Bad news travels fast, mistakes are discussed openly, and the manager hears it first.
Playbooks
In the works
- Feedback that lands: situation, behaviour, impact
- Psychological safety, without the jargon
What weak looks like in your industry
- Software and technologyThe release slips and everyone says they knew three weeks ago.
- Healthcare and practicesNear misses go unreported because the last person who spoke up was blamed.
- Accountancy and professional servicesJuniors spot errors in a senior's work and say nothing.
- Manufacturing and operationsOperators know the machine is drifting but wait for it to fail.
- Small businessStaff tell customers what's wrong before they tell you.
In the frameworks you already use
Every framework touches this dimension somewhere. Here's where.
All frameworks →- Disciplined AgileEnterprise awarenessAct in the interest of the whole organisation, not just your team.
- Shape UpTeams own the scopeThe team decides what to cut to ship on time.
- ScrumSelf-managing teamsThe team decides who does what, when and how.
- Lean and the Toyota WayGenchi genbutsuGo and see for yourself, where the work actually happens.
- DORAGenerative cultureWestrum's model: information flows freely, messengers aren't shot, failure leads to enquiry.
From the blog
Why your retros stopped working, and how to fix them
When a retro goes quiet, it's rarely because there's nothing to say. It's because saying it hasn't changed anything. Five fixes that bring the honesty back.
Running your first retro after something went wrong
A missed launch, an outage, an angry client. The retro afterwards can rebuild trust or quietly break it. How to run one that finds causes, not culprits.
How to take over a team that's had a bad manager
The team you've inherited has learnt to keep its head down. They'll judge you on what you do, not what you say. How to earn back trust that someone else spent.