Ode to Distrust

by Charles H. Green on Tuesday, April 1, 2008 (post #259)

Charlie:

You trust guys are taking over the Ethernet. You always write as if someone were arguing with you from the other side, but the distrust people are never heard from. It’s about time someone spoke up for distrust for a change.

I mean, if we didn’t distrust other people, we would all still believe in Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, Hillary and the Republican Party! If we spent all our time trusting each other, a teenage child saying, “Trust me, dad” would put us at ease, instead of jolting us like an electric shock, putting us instantly on our guard to deal with a life threatening event, as it should.

If we didn’t distrust, the boss saying, “First, let me say that you did a wonderful job collecting for the United Way this year . . .” wouldn’t throw us into evasive maneuvers. And your spouse asking, “What are your plans for the weekend, honey?” might lead you to say, “Nothing, dear” instead of the more cautious, “I’m not sure. Jim hinted that he might dump a big project on my desk.  What’s up?”

We musn’t get so jaded that we give up entirely on distrust. Think of what it would do to the economy!

Think of all the unemployed diplomats, auditors and lawyers! It would hit the lower income worker just as hard with security guards, credit clerks, repro men and many others put out of work and left with inappropriate skills.

Why peace might even break out, threatening the entire military-industrial complex. That would bring our economy to its knees! And as the US economy goes, so goes the world’s. One might safely say then that distrust makes the world go round.

No, Charlie, don’t let the siren song of trust turn your head. If you got too much of it, trust me, you wouldn’t like it.

Ford Harding

Charles H. Green, author of Trust-Based Selling and co-author of The Trusted Advisor, is a consultant and speaker on trust issues for some of the world's best companies. He has shared his newest thoughts and discoveries about trust in business relationships at Trust Matters since 2006. More...

Charles will be teaching a rare open-enrollment session on Trust-Based Selling on June 19th in Columbia, Maryland with Mark Slatin of True Colors Consulting. This is a chance to learn an approach to sales that combines high integrity with high profit. Click through to learn more about his unusual opportunity.