I’ve written and talked a lot about trust lately, and one thing keeps bugging me – the verbal clunkiness of the terms “high trust” and “low trust” culture. Are they descriptive? Yes. Do they roll off the tongue? No.
It’s not a huge problem, but we word nerds are always searching for a better way.
There must be a word that is both accurate and elegant, right?
I think I found one and would love your opinion. The word is “cynicism.”
It means a “belief that other people are inherently greedy, selfish, or dishonest.”
If I were to talk about organizations as having “Trusting” vs. “Cyncial” cultures, would it make sense to you? Does it convey the same core meaning as high vs. low trust?
