HBR IdeaCast Wikipedia Cofounder Jimmy Wales on How to Build Trust
109 snips
Nov 4, 2025 
Jimmy Wales, co-founder of Wikipedia and author of The Seven Rules of Trust, shares insights on building trust in organizations. He discusses how Wikipedia's strict sourcing rules and nonprofit model foster reliability and community loyalty. Wales highlights the importance of a clear purpose and user experience in decision-making. He emphasizes civility and transparency as key to maintaining cooperation. Finally, he contrasts Wikipedia's success with social media challenges and advocates for an optimistic view of the internet's potential.
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Airbnb's Trust Recovery
- Airbnb faced a trust crisis when hosts were harmed and the company initially mishandled it.
- They overhauled policies and regained trust, showing recovery is possible with the right fixes.
Rules Produce Trusted Crowdsourcing
- Wikipedia built quality by enforcing sourcing and neutrality as core principles.
- Wales argues those rules created trust despite crowd contributions.
A Personal Trust Invitation
- Wales wrote on his personal user page: "You can edit this page. I trust you."
- That gesture of trust helped invite countless volunteers to contribute constructively.
