# Trust in Organizations: The Origins of OQM's Six Waves > Wesely draws on Covey's five-wave model and adds a religious layer. Explore what this historical framework can clarify and what it does not prove. - Publisher: OQM International - Language: en - Published: 2026-09-30 - Canonical: https://oqm-international.com/en/journal/trust-six-waves-oqm/ - Image: https://oqm-international.com/journal-images/vertrauen-sechs-wellen-oqm.jpg Trust is easy to name in a set of values and harder to recognize in an actual decision. In Stephan Wesely's dissertation, trusting relationships are one of eight historical OQM quality characteristics. To explore how credibility extends from a person's conduct to relationships and institutions, he draws chiefly on Stephen M. R. Covey's wave model. Wesely adds a sixth, religious layer for his Christian OQM setting. The waves are a metaphor, not a newly discovered law or an OQM experiment. [Source: dissertation, pp. 110–114](https://administration.oqm-business.com/storage/app/public/Dissertation_Wesley_comp.pdf#page=126). ## Five waves from Covey, one addition by Wesely Wesely lists trust in God, trust in oneself, trust in relationships, organizational trust, market trust and societal trust. He says explicitly that Covey presented five waves and that OQM adds the first, religious dimension. A secular presentation today should neither erase that origin nor portray faith as an empirically measured requirement for teamwork. [Dissertation, pp. 113–114](https://administration.oqm-business.com/storage/app/public/Dissertation_Wesley_comp.pdf#page=129). The sequence depicts widening reach: from one's own actions to other people, an organization and its wider environment. It does not establish that every person or institution must pass through fixed stages. For a business, the practical question is whether internal conduct supports its external promises. ## Personal credibility: intentions need capability For the personal wave, Wesely uses Covey's “trust tree”: integrity, intentions, capabilities and results all matter. Good motives do not finish an assignment if the promised expertise is missing. A strong result is less reassuring when it was obtained through deception. [Dissertation, pp. 116–119](https://administration.oqm-business.com/storage/app/public/Dissertation_Wesley_comp.pdf#page=132). An actionable question is: **What did we promise, what were we able to deliver, and what did others actually experience?** It invites evidence without pretending that trust can be reduced to one score. It also makes room to admit a limitation before a missed promise becomes a surprise. ## Relationship trust: what happens when someone disagrees? Wesely emphasizes behavior rather than good intentions. Do decisions match the stated values? Can criticism be specific and respectful? Does a manager respond to a difficult observation with inquiry or defensiveness? His chapter also cites Covey and Daniel Goleman. Images such as the “trust account” and advice on constructive criticism are borrowed perspectives, not original OQM research findings. [Dissertation, pp. 119–121](https://administration.oqm-business.com/storage/app/public/Dissertation_Wesley_comp.pdf#page=135). Consider the last uncomfortable piece of feedback in a team. Was a problem clarified, an error acknowledged or a choice explained? Silence after an employee survey can speak louder than a statement about transparency. That is one reason [reporting survey results back](https://oqm-international.com/en/journal/employee-survey-participation-feedback/) matters. ## Organizational trust does not abolish safeguards Wesely contrasts open information and learning from mistakes with a workplace where people hide problems and leaders answer suspicion with more controls. His claim that trust can make coordination faster is a management argument in the historical text, not a measured effect size in this chapter. [Dissertation, pp. 111–113 and 121–122](https://administration.oqm-business.com/storage/app/public/Dissertation_Wesley_comp.pdf#page=137). Some controls remain necessary for safety, finance and privacy. A better question is whether a rule addresses a real risk or merely masks uncertainty. Clear ownership, proportionate checks and decisions that can be explained can coexist with trust. Removing every review step would be a poor interpretation of the model. ## Market and society: promises meet the outside world The outer waves concern reputation with customers and contribution to the community. Wesely uses examples and figures from his period. They are not current rankings, nor evidence that a specific trust initiative automatically raises revenue. The enduring question is whether the organization's actions toward staff, customers and the public agree with the values it claims. [Dissertation, pp. 122–125](https://administration.oqm-business.com/storage/app/public/Dissertation_Wesley_comp.pdf#page=138). For OQM, trust is therefore a subject for inquiry and accountable decisions rather than an untested promise. The [research overview](https://oqm-international.com/en/research/) places the dissertation in its historical setting. The [2008 questionnaire evidence brief](https://oqm-international.com/en/research/2008-questionnaire/) explains what was actually measured in one older OQM instrument and why those figures do not validate today's OQM 80. ## Related articles - [Whole Teams: Five Conditions Beyond Team-Building Events](https://oqm-international.com/en/journal/whole-team-five-conditions/) - [Employee Surveys: Why Participation and Feedback Belong Together](https://oqm-international.com/en/journal/employee-survey-participation-feedback/) - [The OQM Improvement Cycle: Six Steps from Survey to Change](https://oqm-international.com/en/journal/oqm-improvement-cycle-six-steps/) ## Languages - [en](https://oqm-international.com/en/journal/trust-six-waves-oqm/) - [es](https://oqm-international.com/es/revista/confianza-seis-olas-oqm/) - [de](https://oqm-international.com/blog/vertrauen-sechs-wellen-oqm/)