Newsletter #2: The $300,000 Lesson in Trust
Dear Reader,
Three of our top mechanics made a mistake that cost $300,000. The utility system went down. The product lot was lost. Our tight inventory got tighter.
When I called them into my office, they expected to be fired. What happened next changed the culture of our entire organization.
The Elephant in the Room
After listening to their explanation—or lack thereof—one mechanic finally asked: “Are we going to be fired?”
My response: “Of course not. I just invested $100,000 in each of you to learn an important lesson.”
Why Trust Trumps Everything
Here’s what most leaders miss: In highly regulated industries like pharmaceuticals, fear-based environments are toxic. When people are afraid, they hide mistakes. And hidden mistakes in drug manufacturing? That’s when lives are at risk.
These three mechanics were highly trained and hard to replace. They didn’t intend to cause problems. They didn’t try to hide what happened or blame each other. And most importantly—they needed to learn that our work is about saving lives, not just following procedures.
The Ripple Effect
What happened next was remarkable. Those three mechanics went back to their department and shared the story. Word spread through the plant. People realized:
• Leadership valued them as people, not just workers
• Honest mistakes were learning opportunities
• Decisions were fair, not arbitrary
• The mission—saving lives—was what truly mattered
Those three mechanics provided years of dedicated service after that incident. And our plant became known for its culture of trust and transparency.
When Trust Breaks Down
But here’s the flip side: Dishonesty is non-negotiable. In my career, I’ve had to let people go who falsified documentation or deliberately hid mistakes. Why? Because we make drugs that get injected into desperately ill patients.
When HR questioned if firing someone for dishonesty was really necessary, I asked: “If your child needed this drug to save their life, wouldn’t you want it made by someone you could trust?”
Three Keys to Building Trust
In The Success Guide, I outline the framework for creating trust-based organizations:
1. Demonstrate genuine care. In Puerto Rico, when we helped employees purchase emergency generators at wholesale prices, we showed we cared about their families, not just their productivity.
2. Ask good questions. Curious questions open dialogue. Instead of assuming, ask: “Can you help me understand your thinking?”
3. Connect work to mission. Every employee needs to understand how their role contributes to saving lives. That’s what makes mistakes teachable moments, not firing offenses.
The Manufacturing-Quality Partnership
One of the biggest trust challenges? The relationship between manufacturing and quality assurance. I’ve seen these teams become adversaries—manufacturing focused on production targets, quality acting like the compliance police.
The solution isn’t choosing sides. It’s building a shared mission: “Saving lives by making quality products and shipping on time.” Neither team wins at the expense of the other.
What’s Next
The Success Guide is now available on Amazon with detailed frameworks for building trust-based organizations. In next week’s newsletter, I’ll share the Vision Stack—a strategic framework that transformed our Puerto Rico operation from chaos to clarity.
To your success,
Ed Bjurstrom
Founder, Mountain Top Consulting
P.S. The book includes specific case studies from pharmaceutical manufacturing—but the principles apply to any highly regulated industry where trust is mission-critical