Turf, Trust, Co-Creation & Collective Impact

Posted on October 10, 2017
By Liz Weaver
Turf 5 3.jpg

In my experience mobilizing communities to embrace large-scale change, I have learned that authentic communityengagement moves at the speed of trust. And, while most of us deeply appreciate the importance of trust-building, too often in our eagerness to launch into “the work” little time is actually invested and focused on intentionally building trust amongst partners. 

In my new paper, Turf, Trust, Co-Creation and Collective Impact, I explore the intricacies of trust, how to build it and what can be done when trust is broken. I leverage the work and experience of my own history as well as the research and reflections of several authors and practitioners to better understand the impact trust has on one's self, one's personal and professional relationships, and even the impact it has on one's relationship with society.

According to Charles Feltman in the Thin Book of Trust, trust is “choosing to risk making something you value vulnerable to the other person’s actions.” There is a reciprocal relationship in trust. We have to risk vulnerability in order to gain trust. An individual’s willingness to risk is based on their assessment of the probability that the other person will support you. Feltman identifies four ‘distinctions’ that come into play when an individual considers risk:

  • Sincerity – the assessment that you are honest, that you say what you mean and mean what you say, and that you can be believed and taken seriously. 
  • Reliability –  the assessment that you meet the commitments you make, that you keep your promises. 
  • Competence – is the assessment that you have the ability to do what you are doing or propose to do. In the workplace, this usually means the other person believes you have the requisite capacity, skill, knowledge, and resources to do a particular task or job. 
  • Care – is the assessment that you have the other person’s interests in mind as well as your own when you make decisions and take actions. 

Understanding the neuroscience behind building trusting relationships is only the first step. There is much to consider about the connections between building trust, human decision making, our perceptions of connectedness and engagement, how much stress we feel about the situation we are in and our resulting behaviour. This deeper understanding of trust is useful as it offers insights about how we can intentionally cultivate and sustain the necessary trust to work collaboratively with others on shared issues and opportunities.

 

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Topics:
Collective Impact, Liz Weaver


Liz Weaver

By Liz Weaver

Liz is passionate about the power and potential of communities getting to impact on complex issues. Liz is Tamarack’s Co-CEO and Director, Learning Centre. In this role she provides strategic direction to the organization and leads many of its key learning activities including collective impact capacity building services for the Ontario Trillium Foundation. Liz is one of Tamarack's highly regarded trainers and has developed and delivered curriculum on a variety of workshop topics including collaborative governance, leadership, collective impact, community innovation, influencing policy change and social media for impact and engagement.

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