The fundamental value we rely on to conduct, interact, and participate in almost all we do daily: trust.
We are unable to function unless we trust the people we know and even those we don’t. We trust that the company has packaged the decaf coffee as labeled, the news the media reported on is accurate, your money in the bank is safe, and the legal system will protect you equally. Trust is essential for us to exist. It is the foundation to organizations operating at the highest level, homes functioning well, and relationships prospering.
When trust breaks down, the fragile systems holding everything together fail. The design of information on the internet is put out there (sadly, mostly), stretching the truth and misleading individuals. They take advantage of your trust for their gain and to your detriment. We cannot operate unless we give others the benefit of the doubt and take at face value what they say or indicate to be true. Like a young tree, trust will grow the more we nurture it, and as our belief in something or someone increases each day, and the more familiar we are with it, we drop our guard to the same extent, growing that trust.
The extent of the damage can be devastating when this trust is broken and will often directly correlate to the importance of trust we place in something or someone. We stop being careful, and out of nowhere, it hits us. When technology or system fails, the consequences may be devastating or even life-threatening, yet that failure was not my intent and not designed to achieve the negative outcome. The employee who does not do payroll as required or accesses trade secrets for personal gain, or the partner who clears out the joint bank account, all do so knowingly with a clear sense of their actions and the resulting negative impact on others. Trust is broken.
Possibly we need to be cautious with our trust, or like an automated system, place safeguards and checks in place to mitigate breakdowns. Yet, this can be inefficient, and being suspicious is no way to live. Or we can trust and emphasize the importance of it to the success of the organization, partnership, and relationship, and continue to build it with the hope (and there lies the risk) that the other person maintains their integrity.
Without trust in place, is far more difficult.
