Rebuilding trust in facts today

12 Ways to Build Trust When Nobody Believes You Trust isn't won by being perfect. It's won by being real. Here's how smart leaders build it: 1. Never pretend to know everything. Say "we don't know yet" instead of faking certainty. Smart leaders admit gaps in knowledge and share updates as they learn. "We're still learning" builds more trust than "the science is settled." 2. Show your work, not just conclusions. Don't just announce decisions. Share the debate, data, and trade-offs that led there. "Transparency isn't weakness — it's leadership." 3. Drop the corporate robot speak. Nobody trusts a press release. Speak like a human who cares. Say "we messed up" not "inconsistencies were identified." "If lawyers love your message, the public won't." 4. Embrace emotion, don't dismiss it. Validated feelings build bridges. Start with "We hear you" before jumping to facts. "Empathy isn't soft — it's strategic." 5. Own changes before rumors do. Don't hide policy shifts. Explain them fast and loud. Context kills conspiracy theories. "People don't hate changes. They hate being confused." 6. Make risks relatable. "0.000043% chance" means nothing. "100x safer than aspirin" clicks instantly. "Data without context is just noise." 7. Face the public heat. Town halls forge credibility. Let people vent. Answer honestly. "Trust is earned in sunlight, not shadow." 8. Open your books. Share sources, math, and methods. Let people fact-check you. Transparency beats PR every time. "If you're not willing to be audited, you can't be trusted." 9. Admit failures first. Beat the watchdogs to it. Own mistakes before they own you. "People forgive errors. They punish coverups." 10. Bring critics inside. Include opposing views early. Prevention beats damage control. "Diversity isn't politics — it's protection against blindness." 11. Explain the 'no' pile. Show what you rejected and why. Make people part of the process. "Explaining 'why not' matters as much as 'why.'" 12. Teach bullshit detection. Don't just fact-check. Show how to spot lies. Give people your tools. "The best defense against lies is teaching truth." Smart leaders know: Trust is earned through radical honesty. Even when it hurts. Which of these would rebuild your trust? Share your thoughts 👇 ♻️ Repost if this resonated with you!

Trust in American institutions has been declining for years. Today less than half of Americans trust health care leaders, and health care journalism is rated last in terms of trust from America’s public—all according to the 2024 Edelman Trust Barometer. While some researchers say the phenomenon of mistrust isn't new and has come in waves across a century of American history, the recent Edelman findings feel especially troubling now as we look ahead to the future of US health care.    No one has all the answers on where to go from here, but as I consider the road ahead, I’m grounded in part by the strategies shared by David Rousseau and Noam Levey on separate past episodes of the podcast I host with Don Berwick, Turn on the Lights. The strategies they each offered for building public trust in journalism can be applied by health care leaders in the work we do every day --   1. Be transparent about your methods. Show people the data, sources, best practices that inform your thinking.   2. Have the humility to know you don’t always know the answers.    3. Bring in local expert voices that your community/audience connects with and trusts, and make sure those voices are diverse.   4. Use plain language, never jargon. Connect with people in their terms and on their terms.    5. Make people/patients the focus, always. Put their experiences, needs, assumptions, point of view at the center of EVERY cause, case, and communication you make.    Trust is crucial for optimal functioning of the health care system. Whether you’re a health care journalist, leader, or provider you can put these strategies to work and contribute to our collective rebuilding of trust in health care.    For more, listen to past episodes of Turn on the Lights here: https://bit.ly/3YWXL5f and explore IHI’s theory of how to repair, build, and strengthen organizational trustworthiness in health care: https://bit.ly/40MNQkh. 

I wrote a column in Nature Magazine with Jonas De Keersmaecker about the need for scientists to secure public trust in an age of polarization. A crucial challenge that demands urgent attention is the effect on public health of rising political polarization in many countries. Trust in scientists has declined in parts of the political spectrum since the pandemic and underlies many attacks on science in the United States. We discussed some strategies that could help to counter polarization and restore trust in medical research, such as: 1) highlighting when most people follow public-health guidelines and focusing less on violations; 2) communicating science through sources perceived as non-partisan; and 3) encouraging trusted figures in partisan communities to reinforce public-health messages. More research is urgently needed to identify other ways to effectively rebuild trust in science across the political spectrum. You are read our column here: https://lnkd.in/e8UrvHBU Please let us know if there are other strategies we are missing.

Brilliant essay To rebuild trust, science must bare its soul "Scientists are political, non-neutral, they have values, their work is driven by them. The response to ideological bullies and the belittling of scientific findings is not to plead purity and disengagement but just the opposite: engagement, advocacy, a clear sense of accuracy and validation of results, a love for methods that over time demonstrably produce reliable results, a sincere humility in the face of fallibility—these virtues generate trust. Scientists who are seen as humans, who are relatable, who are engaged members of their community, who can advance the values of science, who care deeply about their work and its meaning for others will be both heard and trusted. To rebuild trust, science must bare its soul." https://lnkd.in/eHiMEnxc

You can’t rebuild trust if you’re still trying to protect your image. Trust can be rebuilt. But not with spin. And not with silence. I worked with a guy who inherited a team the business no longer trusted. Trust had been fractured. Badly. The relationship was strained. Expectations were low. Every update was met with doubt. The team had stopped treating deadlines like commitments. Dates slipped. Promises were broken. Commitments ignored. The business had learned not to count on them. He didn’t launch a trust campaign. No 10-step process. He practiced extreme transparency, especially when things weren’t going as planned. If something might be late, he reported it. If a commitment was at risk, he highlighted the risk. If the plan needed to change, he negotiated it with the business. He shared everything. The good, the bad, and the ugly. No delays. No coverups. No surprises. He made a simple vow: “Nothing should catch them off guard. If it might go sideways, they’ll hear it from me first. If actual performance varies from the plan, they’ll know about it.” At first, they were surprised by the candor. Then, they came to expect it. And slowly, they began to trust the team again. Not because he said all the right things. Because he did the right things. Because he was honest and honored their commitments. Consistently. Proactively. Without spin. Trust isn’t rebuilt by avoiding bad news. It’s rebuilt by refusing to let bad news be a surprise.

“Science doesn’t speak for Itself, we do” Below are my thoughts inspired by a powerful LinkedIn article by John-Arne Røttingen on trust in science. Trust is everything. And it doesn’t come from just sharing scientific facts and expecting people to accept them. Trust is built by people, not by the science alone. As scientists, we often speak in terms of uncertainty: “may,” “could,” “likely.” That’s how science moves forward. But to someone outside the field, that can sound like we’re unsure or not confident in what we’re saying. It creates tension. Moreover, we are comfortable with facts changing as new evidence comes in. But many people are looking for firm answers, not shifting ones. That gap can make science feel distant or unreliable. If we want science to stay meaningful and helpful in people’s lives, especially in health, we have to show up as humans first. We need to communicate with empathy, not just expertise. And we need to remember, people don’t make decisions based on science alone. Faith, culture, personal experience; these matter deeply. If we ignore or dismiss these, we lose the chance to connect. Building trust means listening, not just informing. It means respecting other viewpoints, even when we don’t agree. That’s how science becomes not just a source of knowledge, but a force for good in people’s lives. To truly improve health, we must do more than share what we know, we must earn the trust to be heard.

𝗙𝗶𝘅 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗱𝗮𝘀𝗵𝗯𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀. 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲. A new Head of Data walks in. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝟵𝟬 𝗱𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮 𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁. Many start with dashboards, pipelines, and plans. They rebuild what’s broken and expect trust to follow. 𝗕𝘂𝘁, 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗹. They forget that trust, not tools, is the real foundation. You can fix every schema and still have leaders asking, “Why are we still in this mess?” 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀: 𝗣𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝟭: 𝗗𝗶𝗮𝗴𝗻𝗼𝘀𝗲, 𝗗𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗗𝗲��𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿. Meet every key person. Ask what data they trust. Listen to real pain, not just reports. Find your “data superusers.” See where data dies before it reaches the decision. 𝗣𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝟮: 𝗔𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻. Prioritize quick wins. Rank by impact, complexity, reach, and risk. Set clear ownership for metrics. Share updates every week. 𝗣𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝟯: 𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗳, 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗲𝘀. Pick the highest priority. Deliver one visible win in 30-45 days. Align on definitions so everyone speaks the same language. Over communicate wins and issues. 𝗔𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗽𝘀: • Don’t rush to buy new tools. • Don’t rebuild dashboards before fixing trust. • Don’t promise AI if you have ten definitions of revenue. The first 90 days decide if data drives growth or stays a reporting chore. 𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗖𝗙𝗢 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗯𝘆 𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝟵𝟬, 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗲𝗹𝘀𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀. Trust comes first. Visible wins come next. 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 “𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻” 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸. 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀?

Over the past few years, a lot of people have lost trust in institutions they used to rely on—government, public health, even experts more broadly. I don’t think this is mainly because people suddenly became anti-science or anti-expert. I think it’s because responsibility got blurred. During COVID, many elected leaders avoided making hard choices and instead said they were “following the science.” Scientists stepped up to help, but they aren’t trained to make political tradeoffs or take responsibility for decisions that affect people’s livelihoods, schools, and businesses. When things went wrong—as they inevitably do in a crisis—no one clearly owned the decisions. And when no one owns decisions, trust breaks down fast. In a longer essay, I argue that this wasn’t a failure of expertise. It was a failure of leadership and institutional roles. Experts are supposed to advise. Elected officials are supposed to decide and take responsibility. When those roles collapse into each other, the whole system suffers—and experts often end up taking the blame. The piece uses an old story to make a simple point: restoring trust sometimes requires removing bad actors and setting clearer boundaries, but that always comes with backlash. Institutions have to be prepared for that, rather than pretending accountability is painless. The argument isn’t religious, and it isn’t about defending bad decisions. It’s about understanding why trust eroded — and what rebuilding it actually requires. If you’ve felt frustrated by mixed messages, shifting rules, or leaders who seemed to disappear when decisions got tough, this might resonate. https://lnkd.in/eUK_rutf