Is Trust Broken?

I was looking at a contract with my publishing house last week. It got me thinking about trust. This contract was lengthy and detailed. Fair, but very detailed. Yet there were still a few things I had to take on trust. I did it. But how many others would?

My how times have changed.

When I started consulting, I took client work on a handshake. That's all I needed. You see, I don't want to work with anyone who I can't trust. Today, everyone wants a contract. Mostly to protect themselves in case of litigation.

What a way to start a relationship.

 

If we live in mistrust today - where will we be tomorrow?

Lost trust impacts all of us. Here's an example.  My horse trainer's insurance company refused to allow dogs on her property because they were afraid of lawsuits. Mind you, 70 or so horses live on this property  24 x 7. Up to 6 of them run free during the day at one time - along the road and in front of people's homes. It's horsey heaven! And FYI, my trainer has allowed dogs for twenty years now - without one single problem.

Anyway - the insurance thing sounds like no big deal. Right? 

Not to my pup Diego.  The ranch is his favorite place to go. I pick up my boots and he begins his doggie dance. Barking and running in circles - joy oozing out of every hair.  Now that favorite place is gone. How do I explain to his pure trusting doggie self that because of human mistrust - he loses?

Without trust, we will lose more than our freedom. 

The weight of mistrust is heavy on our businesses and our economy. Legal costs are skyrocketing, progress is slowing. Soon we won't be able to do anything without a legal release. Imagine - signing a release to eat at a restaurant, enter a mall, pump our own gas.

A friend called me last night to vent about a legal hassle with marketing materials. Hey company is  taking every single marketing piece - from outbound emails to landing pages to spec sheets, through a legal process. The results are a disaster for the business.  Every compelling, though factual, word and statement is gone. There's nothing left but pablum now that the legal beagles are done. It's a waste of money and time to use the poor content that's being 'allowed' by the legal teams. It's ridiculous - and such a sad statement of our culture today.

We cannot move forward without trust.

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Tomorrow - Some thoughts on how to find trust again.

Comments

[Cliff Allen]

First, congrats on your publishing deal! They are becoming hard to get.

I learned a valuable lesson when my co-author and I did our first book deal with a publisher: there is a big difference between their contract and their plan.

The contract was clear on who would do what, who paid for what, etc. And everyone at the publisher was great -- and the trust we had for each other minimized problems.

However, since we were first-time authors, we didn't understand how much (or how little) of everything they would actually do.

We learned on the first book, and did a second book with them that went very well.

[Rebel Brown]

Hey Jim

My point really wasn't exactly about contracts and how to use them - but I do agree with your point. I use a Statement of Work or project plan to do exactly what you suggest - without a contract to be signed. I also include a 1 day cancellation clause in any contract that does appear - if my client doesn't like my work, they can bump me in a day. I've never had that happen but - it's a statement that I like to make. That I trust them to do the right thing by me.

The most recent contracts I've seen are ridiculous in their detail. They are all about the assumption that one of the two parties is going to try and cheat the other. IMHO there's no way we can cover all those potential bases - but trying surely does make a statement, now doesn't it?

IMHO a 30 page statement of protectionism is NO WAY to start a relationship. That was my point about contracts.

Trust goes WAY beyond a contract or a document. It permeates our thoughts and our actions.

Its time we learned to trust again.

reb

[Jim Seybert]

My two cents:

Contracts are not always a trust thing. I use them to make sure my client and I are on the same page with a project. There's not a lot of legal stuff, but I do ask them to sign the thing before I start work because it makes the arrangement official. It also allows the client a way to hold me accountable for what I said would be done on their behalf.

The lack of trust certainly does permeate our culture, much of it undeserved and the result of paranoia (I think).