Trust

Thank you for the invitation to weigh in. Trust is as old as the human race, as is its opposite, betrayal. Why? You can get what you want through authority – “he or she who has the gold makes the rules” – or you can solicit what you want through trusted relationships. Trust is a more powerful organizer of people when the chips are down and the way is uncertain as we saw in the micro economies in the tsunami, Hurrican Katrina, 9/11 and in any organization with its back against the wall. But having trust can also be a set-up for betrayal, aka, “trust is for suckers.” I have researched people who work hard at engineering trust just so they can betray it in the end – either to get what they want or enjoy the rush of duplicity. Now that’s something to deal with! Who do you trust and how long can it be sustained? I don’t know the answer to that one but I am working hard in the field of practical measurement to it find out.