How Trust and Understanding in a Municipal Organization can Lead to more Effective and Credible Leadership

Abstract

This auto-ethnographic paper intends to bring forward trust and control issues in a practical setting of a communications department of a Dutch municipal organization. The current situation entails that management in the municipality approaches IT projects from a linear and reductionist perspective, assuming that the world is controllable, predictable and manageable. Experience has shown that these projects often do not lead to the desired results. In this paper we discuss the balance between trust and control that is essential for sustainable change management, but it is important to note that this balance is context dependent and can only be achieved by learning from our own behavior by reflecting on our thoughts and actions. This approach, which puts practical experience in the centre, is based on insights from complex responsive processes theory, could lead to more sustainable project management, and allows us to explore what is really going on within the municipal organization.