Trust conquers all

This week, instead of questions, suggestions

The man who gave away control

When 21-year-old Ricardo Semler took over his father's Brazilian company SEMCO, he didn't tinker with management—he revolutionised it.

His first week? He fired 60% of top managers. Why? Because he felt they embodied control-based philosophy.

Semler's radical experiment seems a little DOGE-like, I admit: eliminate hierarchies, let workers set salaries, evaluate bosses, control schedules, veto products, and set production quotas.

But you can’t argue with his results. SEMCO grew from $4m to over $200m with minimal turnover. And what fuelled this growth was Semler’s optimism about human nature: that people do right when trusted.

"The organisation should serve people, not vice versa," Semler insists.

His ‘optimism’ principles work because:

• Trust replaces control

• Transparency enables better decisions

• Embracing uncertainty creates adaptability

Try this: Remove one control mechanism in your team this week. Replace it with trust. Watch what happens.

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Braintrust

I’m sure you’ve seen at least one Pixar film. Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Cars, The Incredibles. Even the least successful of their Top 20 have box office sales of $200m.

What few people know is that inside Pixar sits one deceptively simple innovation that’s neither technical nor artistic. It’s the Braintrust. This is a group of experienced directors and storytellers that meets regularly to review films in progress and deliver unvarnished feedback.

What makes it revolutionary? The complete absence of power dynamics.

It’s designed to be the ‘wisest brains’ at Pixar but, crucially, this brain has no authority. It can't mandate changes. It can only offer perspectives.

The director maintains complete creative control over her or his movie. Yet somehow, this powerless group has helped shape every Pixar masterpiece from Toy Story to today.

Three principles make it work:

• Candour without hierarchy: The focus is solely on strengthening the work, not pleasing superiors

• Problems, not solutions: They identify what's not working, but leave solutions to the creative team

• People over process: The right mix of diverse perspectives matters more than rigid methodology

The Braintrust succeeds because it separates ego from ideas. When feedback comes without force, creators remain open rather than defensive. This means they iterate until something’s a box office hit, not buried in the pile of forgotten animations.

Try this: Create a "no-power feedback session" where you temporarily suspend all hierarchies. The only rule: observations must be honest, specific, and about the work, not about the person.

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Charge the battery

I learned this week that Shopify's CEO Tobi Lütke uses a brilliant metaphor for workplace relationships: the "trust battery."

"When you first meet someone, the trust battery is at 50%," says Lütke. "Every interaction either charges or drains it."

Promises are met and communication is clear? The battery charges. Missed deadlines or credit for an achievement stolen? The battery depletes.

Batteries with 80%+ charge create magic: frictionless work, honest feedback, accelerated collaboration. Less than 20% charge turns even small interactions into energy-draining conflicts.

Trust isn't binary, it's a continuum. So a battery at 80% can weather mistakes. At 20% or less, minor issues feel catastrophic.

Here are three charging practices I observe amongst my clients:

• Small promises beat big ones: Consistent minor commitments outcharge occasional major ones

• Check charge levels early: Discuss trust before it critically depletes

• Recharging requires consistency: There are no quick fixes for completely drained batteries

Try this: Who has a low battery with you? What three small, consistent actions could charge it this week?

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Consider giving the little heart button a tap — It's the simplest way to let me know my trust battery with you is still holding a charge.

And if you're feeling particularly enlightened (or contrarian), drop a comment below.

Until next Friday,

Andrew

P.S. The most trustworthy readers share this newsletter with a colleague. Just saying . . .