'To Bless All Mankind' May 25, 2015 Issue

How companies deal with fear of change

The Monitor’s Editorial Board

Originally printed in The Christian Science Monitor, January 20, 2015.

Last year, the world’s largest public relations firm, Edelman, added a new question to its annual survey on trust in institutions. People around the globe were asked if they believe change and innovation are happening too quickly.

Much to Edelman’s surprise, more than half of respondents said yes. People’s ability to cope with ever-more-complex gadgets, data, machines, and documents may be reaching a neo-Luddite threshold of resistance.

“Innovation should be a trust accelerator, but today it is not,” said company chief executive officer Richard Edelman, based on the survey. “To invent is no longer enough. There must be a new compact between company and individual.”

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