Story 02: Trust
The story: They both committed to building trust. One took that to mean protecting sensitive information. The other took it to mean sharing everything openly. Same word, opposite behaviours. The gap did not show up in the meeting. It showed up in the inbox.
What it means for organisations: Values create the illusion of alignment more reliably than almost anything else. When a team commits to trust, each person fills the word with their own history and instincts, and the word absorbs all of them without complaint. Agreeing on a value is not the same as agreeing on what it looks like on a Tuesday.
Where next?
Read the comic as text
The Alignment Gap, Story 2
by Stavros Stavru, Ph.D. (weallagreed.com)
Scene 1: The office
A cozy office with shelves of books and trailing plants, pendant lamps overhead, and leafy plants in the corner. Ally and Axel sit side by side at a desk scattered with papers, a coffee mug, and a pen holder. Ally listens with a calm smile, hands folded. Axel raises a finger enthusiastically.
Axel: Deal! Building trust is our top priority!
Banner between scenes: “What could go wrong?”
Scene 2: The office, later
The same desk, now with an open laptop between them. On screen is an email from Stavros titled "Complete Customer Feedback," sent to team@ahaplay.com, with the note: "Attached is the unfiltered customer feedback." Ally touches her chin, looking worried, and gestures toward the screen. Axel looks surprised and confused, hands open.
Ally: Isn't trust about keeping things confidential?
Axel: I thought trust meant being transparent with the team!
Share this story: LinkedIn ↗
