{"id":5463,"date":"2025-10-26T05:36:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-26T09:36:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/?p=5463"},"modified":"2025-10-26T05:36:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-26T09:36:10","slug":"too-much-trust-can-break-your-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/2025\/10\/26\/too-much-trust-can-break-your-team\/","title":{"rendered":"Too Much Trust Can Break Your Team"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Many organizations struggle to find the right balance between giving people freedom and keeping things under control. They often try to fix a “trust problem” with more control, or fix a “control problem” with more trust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But these are not opposites to be solved. They are a polarity to be managed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Polarity Management<\/em>, Barry Johnson showed that many tensions in leadership, such as trust versus control, stability versus change, or individual versus collective, are not problems with one right answer. They are ongoing dynamics that must be balanced over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we overuse control, we get bureaucracy, fear, and disengagement. When we overuse trust, we get chaos, inconsistency, and uneven performance.
Yet when we balance the two, we create clarity and empowerment, high standards and high commitment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A perfect example of an organizational model that overuses control is Taylorism<\/em>. It was built on the belief that people could not be trusted to think, only to execute. Managers designed the work, workers performed it. Efficiency improved for a while, but curiosity, initiative, and humanity were left behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now imagine instead a Michelin-starred restaurant<\/em>. Every detail is thought through carefully. Standards are sky-high. Yet everyone, from the chef to the dishwasher, plays an active role in maintaining those standards. Trust and control coexist. Precision and creativity reinforce each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is the sweet spot of emerging leadership.
It is not about choosing trust over control.
It is about creating systems where trust enables control, and control protects trust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In your team, where might you be overusing one side of this polarity?
And what small shift could bring you closer to that Michelin balance: high standards, high trust, and collective excellence?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photo de\u00a0Laura Heimann<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many organizations struggle to find the right balance between giving people freedom and keeping things under control. They often try to fix a “trust problem” with more control, or fix a “control problem” with more trust. But these are not opposites to be solved. They are a polarity to be managed. In Polarity Management, Barry Johnson […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5465,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5463","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/10\/laura-heimann-KWTvrNiYOE-unsplash.jpg?fit=1920%2C1281&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paNjQG-1q7","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5475,"url":"https:\/\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/2025\/11\/21\/are-leaders-too-focused-on-the-short-term\/","url_meta":{"origin":5463,"position":0},"title":"Are Leaders Too Focused on the Short Term","author":"Alexis","date":"November 21, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"At the Peter Drucker Forum, I attended a powerful conversation titled Stick to Business or Take a Stand? The panel, chaired by Thomas Lange, Managing Director, Achleitner Ventures, featured Tom Tugendhat, Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom; Former UK Minister Xavier Huillard, Chairman of the Board of Directors of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/category\/all\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Screenshot-From-2025-11-21-10-07-04.png?fit=1161%2C642&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Screenshot-From-2025-11-21-10-07-04.png?fit=1161%2C642&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Screenshot-From-2025-11-21-10-07-04.png?fit=1161%2C642&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Screenshot-From-2025-11-21-10-07-04.png?fit=1161%2C642&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Screenshot-From-2025-11-21-10-07-04.png?fit=1161%2C642&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1415,"url":"https:\/\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/2012\/05\/01\/freedom-from-command-and-control\/","url_meta":{"origin":5463,"position":1},"title":"Freedom from Command and Control","author":"Alexis","date":"May 1, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Freedom from Command & Control: Rethinking Management for Lean Service\u00a0est donc le 5\u00e8me livre de la s\u00e9lection du blog.\u00a0Cet ouvrage de John Seddon, fondateur de Vanguard\u00a0est pr\u00e9sent\u00e9 comme l'application du syst\u00e8me Toyota dans les services. Cet ouvrage pr\u00e9sente une approche du Systems Thinking dans les services. En partant des enseignements\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "livre"","block_context":{"text":"livre","link":"https:\/\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/category\/livre\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2012\/04\/freedom-from-command-and-control.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2181,"url":"https:\/\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/2015\/09\/21\/reinventing-organizations\/","url_meta":{"origin":5463,"position":2},"title":"Reinventing Organizations","author":"Alexis","date":"September 21, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Reinventing Organizations a book from Frederic Laloux, is structured in 3 main parts: The first one describes the evolution of organizations The second one presents the practices of evolutionary organizations The third one the emergence of those organizations History The author uses color coding and starts the story with the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/category\/all\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/09\/201509Capture-d%E2%80%99e%CC%81cran-2015-09-18-a%CC%80-19.17.27.png?fit=644%2C968&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/09\/201509Capture-d%E2%80%99e%CC%81cran-2015-09-18-a%CC%80-19.17.27.png?fit=644%2C968&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/09\/201509Capture-d%E2%80%99e%CC%81cran-2015-09-18-a%CC%80-19.17.27.png?fit=644%2C968&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2423,"url":"https:\/\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/2017\/08\/15\/learning-from-the-neuroscience-of-trust\/","url_meta":{"origin":5463,"position":3},"title":"Learning from the neuroscience of trust","author":"Alexis","date":"August 15, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Trust is the foundation of the human relationship and the foundation of an effective team. I recently shared how our behavior will create or destroy trust in the article The Evolution of Trust, and more about trust as the foundation of a team in the article The Five Dysfunction of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/category\/all\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2458,"url":"https:\/\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/2017\/11\/07\/trust-factor\/","url_meta":{"origin":5463,"position":4},"title":"Trust Factor","author":"Alexis","date":"November 7, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Trust, as a foundation for efficient and sustainable teams, is a recurring topic on that blog. In Beyond Measure, I covered the simple exercise proposed by Margaret Heffernan to initiate a relationship between team members. I tried to nudge you to try The Evolution of Trust from Nicky Case. And,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/category\/all\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/10\/trust-factor-e1509487523909.jpg?fit=795%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/10\/trust-factor-e1509487523909.jpg?fit=795%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/10\/trust-factor-e1509487523909.jpg?fit=795%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/10\/trust-factor-e1509487523909.jpg?fit=795%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5678,"url":"https:\/\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/2026\/04\/15\/the-rise-of-the-micro-squad\/","url_meta":{"origin":5463,"position":5},"title":"The Rise of the Micro-Squad","author":"Alexis","date":"April 15, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"We need to talk about process fatigue. If you\u2019ve spent any time in modern corporate software or product development, you know the feeling. The endless sprint planning sessions. The two-week agile cycles that feel like a relentless treadmill. The daily stand-ups where a dozen people justify their existence to a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/category\/all\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/unsplash-community-x71Hr39C-T0-unsplash.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/unsplash-community-x71Hr39C-T0-unsplash.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/unsplash-community-x71Hr39C-T0-unsplash.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/unsplash-community-x71Hr39C-T0-unsplash.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/unsplash-community-x71Hr39C-T0-unsplash.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5463","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5463"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5463\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5466,"href":"https:\/\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5463\/revisions\/5466"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5465"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5463"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5463"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5463"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}