1. Teams break when members over promise and under deliver. They blame others for their mistakes or inadequacy. They stop communicating or only communicate behind each other’s backs. They try harder to control an increasingly out of control situation. This is particularly dangerous where knowledge and information become viewed as a power currency in the relationship and withholding them is perceived to increase control. The need to increase control is a serious symptom of a loss of trust. I have watched founders who have repeatedly missed deadlines become uncommunicative, refuse all help, and even turn down the suggestions of their own staff, trusting no one and leading to an eventual collapse of the company. Companies often outgrow the capabilities of the entrepreneurial founders and letting go and trusting others is one of the hardest and most mature things founders can do – sometimes it is too difficult.
2. New technology does not always work as expected. Particularly on the cutting edges of medicine, the model can be wrong or the animal results misleading. Understanding outcomes can be difficult if studies did not include the controls necessary for interpreting negative results, often overlooked by eager entrepreneurs intent only on proving they are right. Weighing negative results fairly is also difficult with so much riding on them – dismiss results that contradict a hypothesis and risk wasting millions of dollars and years of time on fruitless efforts to prove they were aberrations. Being willing to properly design then trust the experimental evidence is essential. I led a project where one of the teams proposed changes that their own evidence showed were not necessary. After reviewing their second study with them I asked why they still stood by their recommendation and they said “we know it will be better”. It would also be more expensive and time consuming so without supporting evidence we did not make the change, with no ill effect on the project.
3. Respect for the timeline often marks the difference between successful and unsuccessful ventures. On the one extreme are those who will move heaven and earth to meet a timeline and at the other are those who view timelines as business show and tell, not binding on “scientific” endeavors. The latter attitude breaks the trust placed by investors, partners and colleagues, in the executing team. I have seen a founding team ride their deadlines down a month at a time until all credibility was lost, each month saying things would only take a few weeks longer, and each month being wrong yet again. The company bleeds cash during delays, the milestones don’t get paid, investors lose confidence and don’t commit to additional funding and before long, a company that does not manage timelines, and just as importantly, expectations, can be out of business.
When one of these fundamental breaches of trust occurs, investors generally have very blunt instruments for fixing their broken companies – a seat on the Board and the power of the purse if funds are needed. Boards operate very bluntly – they can encourage or remove management. Rebuilding trust is a process, whatever the root of its loss. The first step in the process can be planting new players, but the process will still take time and nourishment for them to root and grow a more successful iteration of the company. Unless all participants, company team and investors alike, are committed to the whole process, it is better to just pick up the pieces and go home.