The Trust Factor

It's obvious to most of us who facilitate group engagement in any context that trust factors fundamentally in group performance. Groups imagine at the depth of trust and move at the speed of trust. Two kinds of trust shape the texture of group potentials: transactional and narrative trust.

In transactional trust, people trust those who fulfill their expectations. In narrative trust people trust those with whom they share the same stories. As you can sense, narrative trust is more durable. That's why I prefer to give people time to intentionally share stories that build the resonance of narrative trust.

Trust moves people from suspicion to appreciation, risk-aversion to action and competition to collaboration. It is the invisible hand that helps realize new possibilities.