Do we trust too much?

Do we trust too much? Broadly speaking opinions can be divided into two categories—category one consists of those people who, because of past experience, admit to not trusting enough. Implied is that this is not a good thing and has a negative effect on interpersonal relationships. Category two consists of those people who think we are way too gullible and accept people at face value when they have done nothing to deserve the trust we have placed in them. Implied here is that this is not a good thing either and it too has a negative effect on interpersonal relationships. Now I am pretty certain that the vast majority of people fall somewhere between these two poles and implied here is that we need to be ’discerning’ in whom we trust and whom we do not trust. Fair enough but I think too easy.

Trust is critical to human flourishing. We are born with an instinctive need to trust because we are helpless on our own. Babies have to rely on their mothers for survival. Children are brought up to trust that people in positions of authority are trustworthy. Is it any wonder that when you ask a kid what they want to be when they grow up usually the response is they want to be a doctor, teacher, policemen, firemen, paramedic? Our survival as an adult however also depends on our willingness to trust each other. I have to trust that you will obey the rules of the road. It’s reciprocal trust borne out of a desire to stay alive. I have to trust that my neighbours are decent law abiding citizens who will be reasonable when it comes to areas of disagreement. If they aren’t, my life and that of my family, is less pleasant. When I employ someone I have to trust that they are honest in what they have placed in their CV and that the study they have completed has been evaluated appropriately by the conferring authority. If not, I will end up with someone who doesn’t have the technical skills to do the job. And then consider the world of media, advertising, marketing and sales. As a professional in these areas of business it is always humbling to realise how much people trust us. They trust us to adhere to the Electronic Communications Act, the Broadcasting Complaints Commission ‘guidelines’ and Advertising Standards Authority code of conduct. They trust us to enrich their lives.

Society, if you think about it, can only survive if we trust one another. I have to trust that when I turn on the tap clean, healthy water will come out of it. I have to trust that when I turn on the lights they come on and stay on. I have to trust that when I become a victim of crime that the authorities will do their job and bring the perpetrators to justice. And if I can’t trust then the implications for society are catastrophic. Now think about something as simple as me asking a stranger the time. I have to trust they will tell me the truth. Same for directions. Implied here is that I trust the person I am asking to tell the truth without even having spoken to them. Why is that? For one thing I have taken visual cues from them—what they look like and who they are. We trust people who look like us or who belong to our community and distrust those who are not. Consider the implications for business. Rarely do we work with people who look like us and often we don’t belong to the same community. We work in a microcosm of South African society with every gender, age, religion, race, language and sexual orientation imaginable. Same for our customers and other stakeholder groups. If we don’t look alike, and belong to different social groups, how are we supposed to trust? It starts with knowledge and respect. Once trust has been established we develop intimacy and collaboration—which is another word for teamwork.

So what does all this mean? Trust because it makes life better—for all of us. But take time to know someone who you are going to trust … starting with the people you work with.

The Birth of a Moral Leader

I was sent this by one of my friends in ‘low places’ (thank you Rina) and thought it was a well written opinion on why President Barack Obama represents a different type of moral leadership.

EnlightenNext magazine has entered the blogosphere, enabling us to share our perspective, in real time, on current events. A great example is executive editor Carter Phipps’s post on President Obama’s recent trip to the Middle East and Europe. Reflecting on the gritty business of global politics, Phipps suggests that Obama represents a new kind of moral leader:

Many of the moral heroes of the twentieth century were primarily defined not by their heroic use of power and office but by their inspired opposition to the powers that be—from Gandhi to Martin Luther King Jr. to Nelson Mandela. Moral courage, in the last century, has often meant fighting against corrupt structures of power rather than embracing those same structures as a means to achieve positive change. Watching President Obama over the last week in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Buchenwald, and Normandy made me realize that we have crossed a threshold. Here is a progressive president who is directly engaged with some of the most delicate moral minefields of geopolitics. Yet, he is completely comfortable with power (but not enamored with it) and is turning morality and idealism into diplomatic tools of the best kind.

To tell us what you think about this, visit the EnlightenNext Editors’ Blog and post a comment!

Traditional media – you can smell the fear …

If ever there was an invitation list I wish I was on it’s this one:  Herb Allen and his boutique bank Allen & Company has for the past 27 years organised a ‘by invitation only’ retreat in Sun Valley (Idaho) for the who’s who of the world’s media.  This year is different though – you can smell the fear.  At least that’s what I am told.  Traditional media as we know it is dead.  The digital revolution is upon us and traditional media economies are no longer expected to be viable.  US advertising spend will decline by 1.2% per annum until 2013 (still around US$178Bn though which doesn’t sound so bad to me) and then who knows?  Not PwC whose data I am quoting.  By 2013 25% of US adspend will be online – compare that to SA internet spend of <1% and what do you have?  Even at <1% you can smell the fear here too. 

Why then am I so suspicious of the consensus that seems to exist that the media world as we know it is coming to an end?  Is it perhaps because there is ‘consensus’ – just as there was consensus that Y2K was going to shut down every business, airport, organization and household unless extreme interventions, costing billions of US$, were activated.  Or how about a worldwide pandemic of swine flu that activated nothing more than a worldwide pandemic of hysteria?  Or how about 120 million viewers of the singing sensation Susan Boyle who were absolutely certain she was going to win Britain’s Got Talent.  She didn’t.  Nope.  For me I can see far deeper issues up for discussion at Sun Valley that go way beyond where the next advertising dollar is coming from. 

Democracy exists only while there is a powerful independent media capable of content origination and dissemination.  Media relies on advertising revenue and subscription services to do that and without it media can’t and won’t exist.  No advertising, no media, no democracy.  And as for content aggregation and user generated content (UGC)?  Aggregation is nothing new – most news organizations around the world have been doing this for years.  Just ask SAPA. The only thing different is that technology makes it easier.  The easier it is the more organizations capable of doing it.  The greater the number with that capability the more of a commodity it becomes and the more one needs to differentiate oneself.  The more differentiated the more you can charge.  The more you can charge …. hey sounds like a revenue stream to me.  And as for UGC?  Have you taken a look at the rubbish out there?  The internet is fast becoming a victim of its own success.  Just try and separate fact from fiction.  But even more important than democracy however is the issue of privacy.  And there is no greater threat to privacy right now than social networking sites and user generated content.  Maybe that’s a subject for another time?  Leadership is inspiring.  Be inspired.