Who Can You Really Trust?

Blogs - Simplifying Management

Working with Hanna Resource Group is a great adventure. Along the way, I've been able to meet some very interesting and capable people. Today, I'm looking forward to meeting Dr. Karen Stephenson.

Dr. Stephenson is a corporate anthropologist. I admit, I had to think about that one for a minute. More simply, Dr. Stephenson studies how organizations work based on the relationships of people. One of the most engaging aspects of her work is how she views the organization as a trust network rather than an organizational hierarchy.

As I've learned more about Dr. Stephenson's research and work, I've come to better appreciate just how important it is for us Human Capital professionals to understand the "inner workings" of the organization in addition to managing the hierarchical structure. Most of us intuitively know we need to find and engage key change agents in the organization. We know we need to identify and commit key stakeholders. But do we really know who these people are? Do we understand the different roles these people may truly play? Do we have a good way to identify each of these and then understand specifically what they can do to help the organization succeed? Maybe.

Maybe we have a good instinct for that kind of thing. Maybe we've learned through experience how to find these people and get them on board with our objectives and plans.

Then again, maybe we just think we know.

I'm interested to learn more about Dr. Stephenson's work because it seems like what we think we know may be wrong. Or perhaps, what we do know is simply incomplete. Rather than relying on gut, Dr. Stephenson focuses on data. I like that. Life isn't like the computer term "WYSIWYG"; sometimes we get what we don't see -- and our initiatives stall or fail.

A different recipe for success? Knowledge Management. Trust Management. Real Performance. I hope to learn more tonight.