In times past, a “man’s word was as good as his bond.”  Deals were made based on reputations and handshakes.  Marriages were arranged by families – or at least introductions were made by mutual acquaintances.
 
With the proliferation of the Internet, an interesting paradox has emerged:  we have become more interconnected, and at the same time, more isolated.  The technology that enables us to transcend the limitations of time and space also limits our ability to judge a person’s character, evaluate his or her trustworthiness, or establish a long-term relationship.  Yet we have become dependent on the technology for our social and commercial interactions.
 
Years ago, in his book Megatrends, Naisbitt (1982, pp. 43-44) identified this paradox as a “high-tech backlash."  He suggested that “…when institutions introduce a new technology to customers or employees, they should build in a high-touch component; if they don’t, people will try to create their own or reject the new technology….  When high tech and high touch are out of balance … dissonance results.”
 
As a result, new business models have been emerging.  In New Rules for a New Economy, Kelly (1998) foresaw the need for relationship technology that is applied towards forging -- and binding – the connections among individuals, and between individuals and organizations.  He warned that (pp. 132-33):  “The advent of relationships technologies on the net creates a larger role… None of this enlargement of relationships can happen unless there are vast amounts of trust all around…  Trust is a peculiar quality… It can’t be instant – a startling fact in an instant culture… But it can disappear in a blink.”
 
Kelly goes on to say that trust cannot be purchased and has to accumulate slowly.  Which takes us to another paradox: how can we accumulate trust slowly, yet have it instantly?
 
We find it helps to deconstruct -- i.e., "break down" trust.  First, Hardin (2006, p. 1) distinguishes between the quality of trustworthiness and the expectation of trust:  “To say that I trust you in some context is to say that I think you are or will be trustworthy toward me in that context.  You might not be trustworthy toward others and you might not be trustworthy in other contexts.”  So the key to engendering trust is to seem trustworthy.
 
Mayer et.al. (1995) present trustworthiness as a function of three broad factors: ability, benevolence, and integrity:  “Ability is that group of skills, competencies, and characteristics that enable a party to have influence within some specific domain (p. 717)…  Benevolence is the extent to which a trustee is believed to want to do good to the trustor, aside from an egocentric profit motive (p. 718)… Integrity involves the trustor’s perception that the trustee adheres to a set of principles that the trustor finds acceptable… the consistency of … past actions, credible communications, … a strong sense of justice, and the extent to which … actions are congruent with … words all affect the degree to which the [trustee] is perceived to have integrity (p. 719).”
 
In their view, trust is a function of these factors, moderated by the trustor’s propensity to trust.  Elsewhere, this characteristic is referred to as “generalized” trust, relatively positive expectations of the trustworthiness, cooperativeness, or helpfulness of others (Hardin, 2006, p. 125).  This factor becomes especially important in temporary relationships with time pressures, as might occur in Internet-based interactions.  
 
Whether the trustor acts on this trust depends on one more factor, the perception of risk.  Without risk, there is no need for trust.  One does not need to risk anything to trust; however, one must take a risk in order to engage in trusting action (Mayer et.al., 1995, p. 724).  Risk is a function of both the probability for failure and the cost of that failure.  To reduce the perception of risk, the trustor might limit the exposure of failed expectations.   
 
So what can you do to encourage your customers to trust you?  There's not much you can do about someone's predisposition to trust (other than build a strong reputation and demonstrate reliability on a long term basis, which takes us back to the need for instantaneous trust).
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Perceptions of risk can be managed with strong password enforcement, contractual specifications, and clear communications throughout the process of the transaction.  The ability to do online chat during a transaction can mitigate someone's concern about placing an order during the transaction.

However, perceptions of trustworthiness (a function of ability, benevolence, and integrity  are helped by soliciting and posting social media ratings of customer satisfaction (such as Amazon and ebay do for their third party vendors), using trusted conduits (such as PayPal ) to handle the monetary aspect of a transaction, gaining the endorsement of external agencies (such as Verisign).  Perhaps most importantly, your customer service representatives can make or break this perception -- make sure they are well-trained and communicate clearly!  The extent to which you can delegate the authority for them to resolve a problem upon contact will go a long way to demonstrating ability, benevolence and integrity.

As with many management principles, breaking down trust this way applies to individual relationships, person and professional.  During this season of new year's resolutions, you may want to reflect on how you demonstrate your ability, benevolence and integrity.  Happy New Year!

Most of us use electronic calendars these days.  You can keep it handy on your phone -- which is always at hand.  If you work in a group, it facilitates scheduling by checking everyone's availability.  It makes it easy to search with a keyword.

But -- and you knew there was a but coming -- I see a downside that occurs all too often.  I call it the "day horn."  Remember shoe horns that helped you get your foot into a shoe that was on the snug side?  Well, a day horn occurs when you think you have time for something just because there's nothing on your calendar.  So you cram one more thing in -- or someone puts a calendar invite on your schedule.

Why is that a problem?  It is terrible time management.  You are managing your time like it's a commodity, not a precious resource.  Fitting something in because you are available is giving way to the urgent, not the important (see Stephen Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, if you're not familiar with it already!).    Perhaps even worse, you're not managing your energy (another great book is The Power of Full Engagement, which emphasizes the need to manage your energy, not just your time.  Don't some meetings drain you and you need to recharge?Don't you need time between events to process, think, follow-up, perform?  At the very least, don't you need time to get to your next meeting? (I used to have a secretary who managed my schedule.  She would schedule every minute of the day -- I finally had to ask her to allow me bathroom breaks and travel times between meetings!)

Applying Lean principles to your own life starts with managing your schedule better.  Are you spending your time on things that add value, or is there waste?  Are you kept waiting because other people are overscheduled and late for appointments (or is it you who is late)?  

Here are a couple of suggestions that I have gleaned over the years of reading many books on the subject and trying different approaches:

• Plan tomorrow at the end of today.  Research has shown you will be more realistic about what you can get done.
• Plan next week on Friday.  Covey suggests a "helicopter view" of your calendar, getting a week-at-a-glance, best done at the end of the week.  This can be hard with electronic calendars, particularly on smart phones.  This helps you to anticipate, for example, that the planning session you will be in on Tuesday will be a bit draining and will require some follow-up.  (The best time to follow-up on something is when it's fresh in your mind.)
• Plan the next 45 days at the end of each month.  This helps you be prepared by blocking preparation time for projects, making time for the important but not urgent things (like working out!), and giving you a chance to reprioritize commitments (i.e.., cancel things) without waiting for the last minute.
• Schedule thinking/performing work time into your days.  By planning ahead you can see that you need to prepare a presentation for next week, so don't let someone horn in on your calendar at the last minute Thursday.
• Add travel times to meetings in your calendar.
• Agree to things on a tentative basis when you can, saying you'll confirm closer to the event.  "I would like to participate, but I have some other things going that week, and will be able to have a better sense of my time commitments as it gets closer."
• Avoid meetings that are a waste of time.  And certainly make sure your meetings are worthwhile.  (But that's another blog.)  

In addition to the  books referenced above, I also recommend work by David Allen and John Maxwell's Thinking for a Change.  

When you MAKE the time to read.

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