Rethinking Trust

Roderick Kramer wrote an article called "Rethinking Trust" in Harvard Business Review (6/2009). Through his research he's validated common sense conclusions about how and why we trust. Kramer says we're not all that smart about who we trust, and we tend to use surface clues like similarity to ourselves. We make mistakes (witness the Bernie Madoff scandal).

The author issues seven rules to help us re-adjust our attudes toward trust. Among them are knowing yourself; starting small; and having an escape clause. I found two items on his list to be striking. They are:

• Recognize the other person's dilemma. They need to decide how much to trust us, too.
• Stay vigilant and always question your assumptions. Things change.

The article is worth a read, and most definitely will make you question your assumptions and others'.