Stuart’s Philosophies

Well, you know life sucks when you’re drenched in the rain waiting for a cab to show up only to know that you are going to have to pay an extra $4 for calls, right? It seems that most cabs aren’t going to wait around for you to call them - they are also in business. I was thinking about this, and wondered why this is the case.

Turns out it’s a very simple issue of demand and supply. Plus a wee bit of social psychology.

Look, every cab driver out there has fallen prey to the concept of scarcity. They know there is a huge amount of demand, but there’s limited supply. How is anyone expected to serve all the demands completely? They will wait and take a call even if there are people standing 10 metres away from them. They think they can earn more, but they are actually breaking the trust cycle.

Eventually, people who have a choice might actually find that the MRT is less of a waste of time, even if you have to get a little wet. I remember one night when I got so fed up that I decided to just walk in the rain. It was fun that money couldn’t buy. But while the cab companies do have a long way to go in terms of satisfying demand, it isn’t so easy where the human economics of trust are concerned.

So if we think of the cycle of trust, do we actually know what this is? In my opinion, trust is created over a period of time. And it is like ploughing the field and planting a seed so that fruit or grain germinate. However, when attempting to squeeze out all the nutrients from the field, it creates an infertile plot of land, which won’t yield much.

In many people’s lives, the cycle of trust is forged when one delivers on a promise. While it may be easy to talk about it, it certainly isn’t easy to do all the time. Sometimes, a letdown is really a call to reexamine what needs to be done and focused on instead. Allow me to put this into context. If I’m in business and I made a mistake by breaching someone’s trust, does my credibility go down? Do I make the mistake of giving a higher price simply because the market demand is high and they have no choice? Or do I operate a charity and give things for free? The go-between is the obvious answer - but finding something that allows us to really invest in trust is not easy. I know that if I trust someone, it’s common for me to pay 10 times more than what I would pay.

My software programmer whom I hire on a regular basis, trumps all the other programmers I find online. To date, I must have spent a total of $10k over the last 4 months starting projects with him simply because I trust him. I personally think it’s expensive to skimp on the trust account and find someone else, only to have them run away with my money.

My regular cab guy whom I call whenever it’s raining typically gets an extra $10-15 depending on where I’m going. While others are struggling to get a cab, or finding passengers in the rain, this guy gets calls, answers them consistently, and gets me to where I need to go.

My questions for you:

What’s your Trust Account balance like? Positive or negative?

What active steps would YOU take to establish a high trust account?

How can we infect people to be more trusting and trustworthy?

Tags

Deep Thought, Emotions, Friendship, General, Rules of Living