Have you ever experienced something like this: The small groups pastor wonders why we use so much production during weekend services. Never addressed, they begin to wonder why the church is so focused on production and not focused on true worship. As time goes on, they begin to believe that the leaders of the church are just using smoke and lights and songs to manipulate people and that it’s all about creating a “great show.” Ultimately, they begin to distrust the organization in its entirety.

If the above scenario feels familiar, you’re not alone. A recent Gallup Poll stated that “only 23% of U.S. employees strongly agree that they trust the leadership of their organization.”

Craig Groeschel states that: “People used to be more inclined to trust others; now most people aren’t just skeptical about those in leadership, they are distrusting.”

If there’s distrust, people resist change, do the bare minimum, assume the worst, and put their own preferences in front of the mission. But if you can build a team where there is trust, people change faster, work harder, believe the best, and sacrifice more for the mission.

How you manage distrust—or organizational doubt—is paramount to building organizational trust.

To begin we need to understand the Five Levels of Organizational Doubt as identified by the Hoover Change Grid:

• Suspended Doubt is when there’s little to no doubt—the employee idealizes sense in the organization. “I get to work here.”
• Operational Doubt is when employees doubt how we do things—questions or critiques about smaller policies, ministry practices, and tactical decisions.
• Ideological Doubt is when employees doubt what we do—questions about our ministry focus, our approach to reaching people, or questioning ministries entirety.
• Ethical Doubt is when employees doubt who is leading—doubting the intentions, integrity or competency of the leaders in the organization.
• Finally, Absolute Doubt is when employees doubt everything—at this stage, people quit the organization and leave, or worse, quit and stay. Quiet quitting is a major issue for the church because mission-driven institutions require personal sacrifice for the sake of the mission. Yet quiet quitters sacrifice the mission for the sake of their personal agenda.

Principles of Organizational Doubt:

The deeper the doubt, the more tension they feel. This tension affects their contribution to the organization and their relationship with their manager, and team. But it also affects them internally. Not only will they have increased tension when they’re at work, but also when they’re home impacting the people they care about the most. This tension can only be relieved by realignment or by relocation.

The deeper the doubt, the more difficult it is to turn back to trust. We want to catch doubt early. The deeper the doubt the sharper turn toward health it will require. Like a tube behind a boat, there’s more force on a sharper turn than a gradual one.

There is no coming back from absolute doubt. Once someone experiences absolute doubt, they will not be able to regain trust in the organization or the leaders without a period of separation.

A person’s internal stage of doubt is always one level deeper than they express. If they’re asking operational questions, they’re actually internally at ideological doubt. Ideological questions express ethical doubt. And here’s the kicker—if they’re regularly expressing ethical doubt by openly questioning the decisions and the wisdom and the character of the leadership, they’re actually in absolute doubt. Refer to principle three above.

How to Navigate Doubt:

Catch doubt early. Remember, the deeper the doubt, the more tension it creates, and the harder it is to correct. The earlier we catch doubt, the more likely we can help.

Answer the question under the question. If each person’s stage of doubt is a level deeper than they’re asking, then we need to answer the question underneath the question. Operational questions don’t just need operational answers—they need ideological answers. If they’re expressing ideological doubt—they need to understand the intent of the leaders, we must answer them ethically.

Help them move on. If they’re in absolute doubt, we can’t delude ourselves in thinking that it’s better for them to stay at the organization than to leave. While difficult, in the end a split will be better for them, their family, their friends, their teammates, and better for the organization.

How To Build Organizational Trust.

Treat doubt as an ally. See doubt as an opportunity to discover what is unclear and clarify the how, what and who of our organizations.

Remind and reiterate the vision. Constantly reiterate the vision. Share stories. Reward positive behavior. Confront misalignment.

Help them remember their why. Help them remember the passion and purpose they had when they joined the organization when they’ve lost it. Two key questions: “What brought you to our church?” “What keeps you at our church?”

Dream for the future together. Without a vision of what could be, teams grow frustrated about current realities. Help them envision themselves in the future of the organization so that they spend more time thinking about future possibilities.

Every single person on your team wants to work for a mission they care about, leaders they trust, with work that’s life-giving. Use the stages of organizational doubt as a framework to help your team stay engaged and believe in your church.