Trust Enablement

Readers of Trust Matters know that I tend to focus on a certain side of trust—the human, complex, messy, emotional, non-linear side of things.

In part this is a personal reaction to my own MBA and corporate background, which emphasized the other side—the linear, rational, cognitive, quantitative side of things.

And in part it’s a reaction to the dominant model in business—which resembles more the latter than the former.

But it takes both sides to get a full view of trust. So I want to take this post to acknowledge someone who does a fine job working the other side of the street.

It is Alex Todd, President of Trust Enabling Strategies.

Alex talks about Trust Enablement®, and has developed what he calls has developed what he calls the Trust Enablement Program™.

He defines trust as “acceptable uncertainty,” and suggests that:

In essence, where Risk Management is all about protecting what you have, Trust Enablement™ is all about getting what you want by, in effect, proactively managing the risks of the relying party (or customer).

I don’t know anyone else who’s gone further in an attempt to systematically and quantitatively describe attributes of trust and applications of trust to management.

Todd’s site is worth visiting if you want to delve into measurement and management issues, or if you simply want to stretch your mind about the issues of trust in business.

He also has the best collection of trust-related quotes I’ve seen.

I don’t always see things the way Todd does, but he is clear, clean, broad and thorough in his thinking. He is usually persuasive, but always insightful.

Anyone interested in trust should not miss his work.