Today’s guest, Tina Øllgaard Bentzen, a researcher at Roskilde University in Denmark, explores the nuanced relationship between trust and control. Specializing in trust-based management, Tina challenges the assumption that control erodes trust. Instead, she explains how thoughtfully designed control systems can coexist with trust, fostering innovation, collaboration, and accountability. Drawing on Scandinavian public organizations, Tina highlights how trust-based management shifts the focus from rigid oversight to empowering employees through autonomy and intrinsic motivation.
Tina describes trust as a "magic concept"—a powerful yet abstract idea driving organizational change. By using trust as a framework to critically evaluate and reshape control systems, organizations across Denmark and Scandinavia have developed approaches that enhance trust rather than erode it. For instance, Danish municipalities have replaced rigid purchaser-provider models with collaborative frameworks that engage employees and improve outcomes.
A central theme of the conversation is whether granting more autonomy weakens control or strengthens trust. Tina argues that autonomy, when paired with accountability and co-created control systems, can reinforce trust. However, she acknowledges the challenges, particularly for employees unaccustomed to navigating greater freedom. Leaders must actively address trust breaches and provide support to create an environment where trust and control complement one another.
Looking to the future, Tina discusses how global challenges like fiscal pressures and workforce retention are shaping trust-based reforms. She highlights examples from the COVID-19 crisis, where granting trust during uncertainty spurred innovative solutions, such as Denmark’s outdoor teaching and online schooling.
TrustTalk - It's all about Trust
TrustTalk podcast covers all aspects of Trust. Trust is more relevant than ever. Trust is everywhere. Trust has many faces. We will dive in all aspects of trust in the lives of people: trust in technology, social networks, trust in politicians, trust in facts, communications and journalism, the judiciary, your partner, employer or employee. Trust is not something that comes for free, most of the time it requires a lot of effort to gain and once gained, to keep it. Without Trust, nothing works.
Trust takes years to build, seconds to break and forever to repair.
Meet the Host
I am fascinated by trust. I spent most of my professional life as an attorney-partner at several international law firms. In 2010 I started a network consultancy in intellectual property, IPEG (Intellectual Property Expert Group). I am also chairman of the Netherlands foundation "Stichting PleitAcademie", a certified training institute for attorneys and law professionals. With the TrustTalk podcast and the blog (https://trusttalk.co), I am pursuing my passion for trust. Nothing works without trust. Want to know more about me? visit https://www.severindewit.com
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