Transformation happens at the speed of trust

"Transformation happens at the speed of trust."

We say this a lot to our clients, almost in passing. They seem to appreciate that it captures an essential truth, so we thought we’d unpack what we mean by it.

Successful digital transformation needs:

1). Leaders to trust multidisciplinary teams to work out how to meet an outcome. Leaders must stop solutioneering or micromanaging. Trusting teams in this way can initially feel uncomfortable – that’s normal. Radiate trust, even if you’re faking it at the start.

2). People from different disciplines to trust each other as respectful peers in a multidisciplinary team. Investing in and focusing on people’s psychological safety is important.

3). Each multidisciplinary team to trust other teams to align their work with yours, and for them to trust that you will align yours with theirs.

4). Everyone to trust that multidisciplinary teams will change, divide, merge and dissipate over time, and that this is okay. Such adaptive evolution doesn’t put jobs – or egos – at risk.

5). Leaders to trust each other to commit and align the people they line manage around outcomes that are shared with other leaders.

6). Leaders and teams to trust enabling functions (HR, finance etc) to support delivery teams. And for enabling functions to trust that teams will respect their need to constantly evolve to do so in ever-better ways.

7). Leaders to trust that outcomes matter more than deliverables when it comes to governance. And that all plans will change as assumptions are tested in reality.

8). Those working in teams to trust that their leaders have their backs when things don’t turn out as expected – an inevitability when you’re constantly testing and learning.

9). Teams to trust that their leaders are working tirelessly to remove blockers to their delivery momentum.

10). Everyone to trust in the sometimes harsh truths that your users will impart when they engage with your services for real. It’s you; not them.

11). Everyone to trust that their organisation will deal swiftly and effectively with any serious breaches of trust. Trust arrives by foot and leaves on horseback.

Creating these conditions takes time, thought and investment. Be curious about how to help people to trust - and maybe start by thinking about your behaviour and what you need in order to trust others more. And be intentional about changing the language you use to describe your work and the work of others in your organisation. After all, you’re all in this together.

Increasing the levels of trust within our clients is one the outcomes we're most proud of at Public Digital, since the benefits are so profound and enduring.