The Premise of Covey's, The Speed of Trust, is that when there is trust in any business or human transaction, the transaction takes less time and thus, costs less.

Think of any transaction, whether it be buying something or talking with your boss. If there is trust, things move along quickly. If there is no trust, we get bogged down in analysis and take extra time checking things out. Trust is the lubricant for effective human transactions. Increased friction is the result of lack of trust.

Typical of Covey materials is the framing of principles around values and specific behaviors, an approach adapted by Ministry Health Care for our Patient Promise.

Trust is a key element of effective leadership. I highly recommend this one. It's an easy listen, only 75 minutes (executive summary version from Audible.com).

In the aftermath of a virus or malware outbreak, we typically beat up on our Client Technology and Data Center folks or even our security software vendor and demand answers, “How could you let this through? Why didn’t our technology block this threat? Where was your vigilance?” Frankly, the question we really want to ask is:

“Who’s the nincompoop that clicked on the malware that kicked this catastrophe off?”

Virus and malware outbreaks typically cause us to revisit our usage of Windows local administrative rights. In a nutshell, local admin rights serve double duty as a requirement for certain, critical applications as well as the scourge of IT Support.

One approach to keep malware from attacking a device is to “lock it down”, that is, to remove local admin rights so that the user can’t install anything on it. This approach has its advantages because it protects users from the negative consequences of their own actions. This is similar to web filtering where we keep users away from harmful sites. Standard tools in the IT Security arsenal, right?

The problem I have with employing blocking technologies as the sole deterent is that we do two things:
1) We imply a lack of trust whereby we further are viewed as “big brother”.
2) We create a nanny security environment where users assume no responsibility for their actions (for what they click on).

While blocking technologies are important and necessary, I strongly believe we need to cultivate another, farther-reaching approach: personal responsibility and consequences. Before you call me naïve, consider this: Is it better to instruct our teenagers about the dangers of alcohol consumption or should we prominently lock the liquor cabinet and call it a day? Clearly the healthier and more sustainable answer is the former. (Having said that, there are certainly times when we may have to resort to the latter!)

I propose educating users on what they can and cannot install. We don’t want them installing games and we don’t need them to help us update their virus scanners. In fact, we don’t want them to install anything without the consent of the Service Desk. If, after this simple education, a user decides to install something, we will impose simple consequences. If it takes 30 minutes for a technician to remove Google Earth, then the user will forfeit 30 minutes from their paid-time-off (PTO) account. If they click on something that requires a 2-hour reimaging and reconfiguration of their device, they forfeit 2 hours from their PTO account.

In essence, we need to employ a two-prong approach: blocking technologies AND user responsibility and consquences.

In Jurassic Park, John Hammond tells Dennis Nedry that he doesn’t blame people for their mistakes, but he does ask that they pay for them. I agree and believe that this stance would vastly cut down on the number of illicit software installations, with blocking technologies providing the final cover.

Our Lady of Victory Hospital (OLVH) routinely posts the best employee culture scores in the Ministry Health Care system. I'm often asked how it is that OLVH consistently rates so high. We're certainly not perfect nor perfectly consistent across all departments but I see OLVH's cultural strengths as follows:


Leadership by Example

OLVH leaders are "working managers". I think that makes the layer between managers and staff less pronounced. Whether it's our DON working ED shifts or the Rehabiliation Director going to the prison to provide therapy, the leaders at OLVH have their sleeves rolled up just like the staff does. I believe that fosters more of a "we're all in this together" environment.


Sincerity

Values and culture activities are treated seriously and sincerely by our leadership. These initiatives are always followed by serious and sincere action. Employees can smell disingenuous lip service a mile away.


Connection with Staff: Honesty and Openness

From a senior leadership level, the hospital President does a great job of keeping everyone appraised of what is happening, even if the news is negative. There are few, if any, secrets. Discordance is hard to hide in a small environment so it's typically dealt with quickly resulting in less time to fester (certainly there is variability in performance here but overall this is a strength at OLVH). Conversely, good works and good staff are more visible to all. The President's weekly email is a great example of how she openly connects with staff to relay good news, bad news and give sincere kudos and encouragement to specific individuals.


Focus, Accountability and Follow-through

There is a strong current of accountability here complete with follow-through and closure of initiatives. Thus, things get done. This leads to the sense of accomplishment as well as confidence that what we focus on will be accomplished.


Trust

All of the above lead to a higher sense of trust among leaders and staff and trust is probably the main ingredient of commitment.

This is the time of year when I field a lot of questions about point-and-shoot digital cameras for gifts or for capturing pictures of kids and grandkids during the holidays. Luckily, a very highly respected digital camera review site, DPReview.com, is coming out with a series of reviews of cameras within various classes. Each class review will select the best cameras in their respective classes.

Their first review is of the budget camera class and includes cameras under $150. According to the review, the two best cameras in the group are (with Amazon links) the Sony DSCW120 at approx. $130 and the Panasonic LZ8 at approx $117.

Remember, this first review is of budget cameras so the winners will provide good quality photos yet may or may not have all of the features you desire. Read the reviews carefully as DPReview does a good job of specifying the pros and cons of each class of camera as well as for the individual cameras themselves. I'm actually quite amazed that both the Sony and the Panasonic above have Image Stabilization and large viewing screens. Clearly, high-end camera technology is working it's way down to the budget models!

If you're interested in digital camera buying this Christmas, check back at the DPReview site for more information and more reviews as they become available.

Enjoy,
Eric

(BTW- Don't judge a camera based on the number of megapixels it has. All new cameras have enough megapixels to produce large prints.)