Blog
Matthew Taylor
There is a fuzzy divide in the debate about the erosion of trust in institutions. On the one hand people who think the problem lies overwhelmingly with institutions and their actions; on the other, those who suggest the problem lies more with the perceptions and unfair demands of those who judge the institution. There is truth in both camps for what we can see is a folie a deux; organisational failure, self-serving institutional cultures and unjustifiable behaviours interact with unreasonable and contradictory demands to generate ever more inauthentic, and sometimes, toxic relationships. A consequence, as I laid out in last year’s annual lecture, is the continuing decline of legitimate hierarchical authority; yet it is a source of power much needed to contribute to solving tough problems.
