When individuals feel like valued members of a group, it boosts a host of positive outcomes including superior decision-making, employee engagement, employee motivation, strategic alignment, organizational learning, cooperation, productivity, innovation and overall performance. This applies to groups of all sizes including classrooms and schools, families, business and government organizations, hospitals, sports teams and the social sector. Strong relationships are key for any group to achieve the benefits enumerated above.
In an earlier post, I wrote about the University of Chicago research on relational trust that I learned about from my friend Parker Palmer. For those of you who are interested in relational trust and the wisdom of crowds, I encourage you to check out this fascinating interview my friend Robert Morris, the freelance writer, did with Alan Briskin, co-author of The Power of Collective Wisdom. In the interview, Briskin and Morris discuss relationship centered networks that tap into collective wisdom.
For those of you who read Robert Morris’ book review and interview, you will see why I believe he is among the very best at what he does. In addition to being a well-organized, clear writer, Morris is a Renaissance man who always sprinkles his writings and interviews with thoughtful insights drawn from remarkably diverse fields of knowledge. Check out his book reviews and interviews at this link and you’ll see what what I mean.
