The Decision to Trust

More discrete than globalization or the emergence of the Internet, one of the most fundamental changes affecting the way companies function is the declining trust trend. Indeed, notes Robert Hurley, the sense of honesty and trust has declined in all industrialized societies in the past several decades. But without trust, people don’t cooperate with one another — and everyone knows how important cooperation is to success.
Armed with this observation, the author undertook a thorough analysis of what composes trust. He thus developed a ten-factor model that managers can use to diagnose and reinforce trust in their organization, and to understand to whom they should give their trust. You will discover, in fact, that we are all different when it comes to trust. Our personal history plays an essential role, of course, but also our temperament. Thus, people who are predisposed to trust others find it easier to inspire trust. So, to foster trust, you are advised to work on your self-confidence and your tolerance for risk, as well as develop a proactive attitude to address potential problems, for example.
Most factors that compose trust are situational, however. The author delivers invaluable ideas on how to create the conditions for trust to emerge. Creating a reassuring framework is essential, for instance. You must realize that granting trust implies taking risks and that you must take measures to minimize this risk, rather than being offended by the wariness of the other person. Six other trust factors are described in a way that points to measures that may initially seem counterintuitive.

With a highly structured set of practical tools, covering interpersonal trust in both teams and organizations, this book is an invitation to put trust into perspective and experiment with one of the most fundamental issues in professional life.