Trust Battery

Purpose

The Trust Battery (coined by Shopify’s Tobi Lütke) provides a metaphor for the trust between two people. When you first meet, the battery is at 50%. Every interaction charges or drains it. By making trust levels explicit, teams can have honest conversations about relationship health and take action to rebuild where needed.

At a glance

How to run

1. Introduce the metaphor (5 min): Explain the trust battery concept: starts at 50%, charges with positive interactions (kept promises, support, honesty), drains with negative ones (missed commitments, gossip, lack of follow-through).
2. Individual assessment (5 min): Each person privately rates their trust battery with every other team member (or with 2–3 key colleagues): 0–100%.
3. Pair sharing (optional, 10 min): In pairs, share your battery level with each other and explain what charges and drains it. This step requires courage and safety.
4. Group reflection (5 min): Without sharing specific percentages publicly, discuss: What behaviours charge trust in this team? What behaviours drain it? Are there patterns?
5. Charging actions (3 min): Each person commits to one trust-charging action this week.
6. Close (2 min): Acknowledge the vulnerability of the exercise and thank the group.

Materials needed

• Trust Battery worksheet (battery visual with 0–100% scale)
• Pens
• Quiet space for pair conversations
• Timer

Pitfalls & common mistakes

• Public shaming: Never force public sharing of specific trust levels. The pair step is optional and must feel safe.
• Static view: Trust changes. Revisit the exercise periodically to track improvement.
• Using it as a weapon: "My trust battery with you is at 10%" without context or willingness to discuss is harmful.
• Ignoring low batteries: The exercise is only valuable if people commit to rebuilding where trust is low.

Inclusion & accessibility

• Make the pair sharing step optional — not everyone is ready.
• Provide the metaphor in writing so non-native speakers can fully understand.
• In virtual settings, use private chat or breakout rooms for pair exchanges.
• Normalise that low trust is not a moral judgement — it is information to act on.

Variations

• 1-on-1 version: Use in a manager-report 1-on-1 to discuss relationship health.
• New team ice-breaker: Introduce the concept on day 1 so the team has a shared language for trust.
• Retrospective integration: Ask "What charged our team trust battery this sprint?" as a retro question.

When NOT to use this

• When the team lacks the psychological safety for honest self-disclosure.
• When it is mandated by HR as a diagnostic tool — it must be voluntary.
• When there is active conflict that needs mediation, not a metaphor.

Source & further reading

• Tobi Lütke, Trust Battery concept (Shopify)
• Brene Brown, *Dare to Lead* (Random House, 2018)
• Charles Feltman, *The Thin Book of Trust* (Thin Book Publishing, 2008)