Trust is the basis of our humanity, without trust, we cannot have relationships of any value, and the breach of trust once given  is an emotional wrench. The greater the level of trust given the greater the emotional pain on realising that trust has been breached.

Collaboration relies on trust, the notion that we need to put the best interests of a group ahead of our personal best interests is fundamental to success in any true collaboration.

Unfortunately, they are as rare as hens teeth.

The notion of commons, comes from medieval times, a common ground on which everyone had equal right to graze. However, if one person doubled the number of head he grazed, he gets a short term benefit, to the detriment of the others, and the foundation of the commons, trust and mutual obligation, is broken.

Trust is also something that is highly individual.

People can learn to trust each other, while not having any trust in the institutions they represent. This is perhaps best demonstrated by the Christmas 1914 football match on the western front between the opposing German and British forces in the trenches. The military leadership on both sides were appalled, that their fighting men were able to put aside the deadly enmity they so valued sufficiently to have a game of football in the spirit of Christmas.

We are wary of trust because it makes us vulnerable, we give it only after it has been earned, after the ‘trustee” has demonstrated that the trust will not be breached, that it will not only do us no harm, but that it is in our mutual best interests that we trust each other.

This presentation by David DeSteno on the psychology of trust is well worth watching and absorbing into  the way you consider your relationships.