Trust and Networks
Trust makes networks work. When trust is high among members of a network, there’s a wonderful cohesiveness and capacity to get work done. When trust is low and relationships are plagued by suspicion, networks collapse into brittle organizational structures that rarely offset their operational costs in real world outcomes.
Trust builds living networks that are highly resilient, flexible and efficient. People who trust each other more easily forgive each other for the bumps that inevitably arise from working together. That’s network resilience. When people trust each other, it’s easier to respond to change in a smart, coordinated way. That’s network flexibility. Trust also reduces red tape, which lowers the cost of collaboration. That’s network efficiency.
Summary Points:
- Trust builds living networks that are highly resilient, flexible and efficient.
- Networks are voluntary connections between autonomous peers.
- Networks are the connections that allow peers to work together.
- In networks, there is no external controlling force.
- The relationship is the “net” that supports “work” in the network.
- Trust is the lubricant that supports relationships and makes a network work.
- “Trust” is remaining open in the face of vulnerability.
- When we enshrine mutual respect as a core principle of the network, we make it easier for new connections to happen.
- We must safeguard trust to ensure that autonomy is not abused in a network.
Tip of the Hat to author Gideon Rosenblatt as referred by Kaliya Hamlin at Next Net.
Phi Beta Iota: A Nobel Prize was awarded to the individual that “gamed” proof of the concept that trust lowers the cost of doing business. It actually lowers the triple bottom line in that transparency and truth create trust at the same time that they eliminate inefficiencies and waste. Most people focus on trust as if it could be created merely by hand-holding–it actually requires truth proven over time to stick.
Review: The Hidden Wealth of Nations
Search: gross national happiness (sic)
