The best treatment of any disease is its prevention.
The best response to any crisis is its aversion.
David L. Katz, MD, MPH
This morning an article written by David L. Katz, MD, MPH, and the Director of Yale University Prevention Research Center, caught my attention on LinkedIn Pulse. The title of the article is Ebola and Unscrambling Eggs. Wondering how this relates to organizational trust? Read what Dr. Katz has to say:
That’s what we do, bodies and the body politic alike: wait for catastrophe, then scramble….
The best treatment of any disease is its prevention. The best response to any crisis is its aversion.
Alas, we- anybody and the body politic, alike- seem to harbor an aversion to just that approach. We are forewarned again and again, but never quite manage to be forearmed. We wait for the inevitable fall, then dash in madly to unscramble our eggs.
By all means, let’s do what we always do: call in the King’s horses and the King’s men, at the customary high cost in dollars and human potential. And why not, while we’re at it, go ahead and cross our fingers.
The global trust crisis continues simply because leaders do not practice prevention. They wait for the fall and then call in the crisis team to “rebuild” something called “trust” that never existed in the first place. Rather than being part of the organizational DNA and reinforced daily, trust is almost always taken for granted. And often, when the organizational crisis strikes, the empty trust bank account makes it impossible for the King’s horses and King’s men to put Humpty together again.
Barbara Brooks Kimmel is the Executive Director of Trust Across America-Trust Around the World whose mission is to help organizations build trust. She is also the editor of the award winning TRUST INC. book series. In 2012 Barbara was named “One of 25 Women Changing the World” by Good Business International.
Nominations are now being accepted for Trust Across America-Trust Around the World’s 5th annual Global Top Thought Leaders in Trustworthy Business.
Coming Soon!
Should you wish to communicate directly with Barbara, drop her a note at Barbara@trustacrossamerica.com
Copyright © 2014, Next Decade, Inc.
Exactly, sadly so. Never mistake the accumulation of resources for pre-planning. Never mistake national interest for caring. The great mass distractions – politics, organized sports and war – serve as excuses for not taking up the truly noble causes and excuses for not taking individual initiative in the face of injustices at home and abroad.