Five ways to kill team trust solving challenging problems
Trust is the glue that holds problem-solving teams together. Without it, even the brightest minds will falter.
If you want to guarantee failure, here are five surefire ways to destroy trust:
Hoard Information: Keep critical details to yourself. Make teammates guess what you know. Nothing breeds frustration faster than feeling left out of the loop.
Shut Down Ideas: Roll your eyes or dismiss suggestions with “That’ll never work.” You’ll stifle creativity and ensure no one risks sharing their best ideas.
Play the Blame Game: When something goes wrong, point fingers. Blame divides teams and shifts energy from problem-solving to self-preservation.
Refuse to Acknowledge Effort: Ignore contributions and focus only on results. People will stop trying when they realise their hard work isn’t valued.
Break Promises: Say you’ll do something, then don’t. Reliability matters. Fail here, and people won’t just lose trust in you—they’ll lose trust in the team.
A team without trust is a group of individuals working against each other. But here’s the thing: trust can be built just as easily as it can be broken.
Start by doing the opposite of these five—and watch how fast the dynamic changes.