{"id":1012,"date":"2011-09-17T06:36:29","date_gmt":"2011-09-17T06:36:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.saasoft.com\/blog\/?p=1012"},"modified":"2011-09-17T06:36:29","modified_gmt":"2011-09-17T06:36:29","slug":"the-cost-of-distrust","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hcse.blog\/?p=1012","title":{"rendered":"The Cost of Distrust"},"content":{"rendered":"

Previously we have explored “costs” associated with processes and systems – costs that could be avoided through the\u00a0effective application of Improvement Science. The Cost of Errors. The Cost of Queues. The Cost of Variation.<\/p>\n

These costs are large, additive\u00a0and cumulative and yet they\u00a0pale into insignificance when compared with the most potent source of cost. The\u00a0Cost of Distrust.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The picture is of Sue Sheridan and the link below is to a video of Sue telling her story of betrayed trust: in a health care system.\u00a0 She describes\u00a0the tragic consequences of trust-eroding health care system\u00a0behaviour.\u00a0 Sue is not bitter though – she remains hopeful that her story will\u00a0bring everyone to the table of Safety Improvement<\/p>\n

View the Video<\/a><\/p>\n

The symptoms of distrust are easy to find.\u00a0They are written\u00a0on the faces of the people; broadcast in the way they behave with each other; heard in what they say; and\u00a0felt in how they say it.\u00a0The clues are also in what they do not<\/strong> do and what they do not say. What is missing is as important as what is present.<\/p>\n

There are also tangible signs of distrust too – checklists, application-for-permission forms, authorisation protocols, exception logs, risk registers, investigation reports, guidelines, policies, directives, contracts and\u00a0all the other machinery of the Bureaucracy of Distrust.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The intangible symptoms of distrust and the tangible signs of distrust both\u00a0have an\u00a0impact on the flow of\u00a0work. The untrustworthy\u00a0behaviour creates dissatisfaction, demotivation and\u00a0conflict; the\u00a0bureaucracy\u00a0creates handoffs, delays\u00a0and queues.\u00a0 All\u00a0\u00a0are potent\u00a0sources of more errors,\u00a0delays and waste.<\/p>\n

The Cost of Distrust is\u00a0is\u00a0counted on all three dimensions\u00a0–\u00a0emotional, temporal and financial.<\/p>\n

It may appear impossible\u00a0to assign a finanical cost\u00a0of\u00a0distrust because of the\u00a0complex interactions between the\u00a0three dimensions in a real system;\u00a0so one way to approach it is\u00a0to estimate\u00a0the cost of a high-trust system.\u00a0 A system\u00a0in which\u00a0the trustworthy behaviour is explicit and trust eroding behaviour is promptly and\u00a0respectfully challenged.<\/p>\n

Picture such a system and consider these questions:<\/p>\n