Trust and Credibility Really Are Among Our Most Valuable Assets
From the trust barrier in commodity supply chains to a friend’s search for talent and a small event invitation, some thoughts on why trust and reliability are so valuable in working with others.
Trust and credibility really are among our most valuable assets.
That thought just came to me out of nowhere.
When I used to work in commodity supply chains, my boss told me that the biggest barrier to doing business between companies or along a supply chain was trust. The sums involved in each transaction were so large that people only did business with those they already trusted, even if that meant paying a premium.
That is the fundamental reason it is so hard to bring industrial supply chains online. It is not as simple as buying something on 淘宝 (Taobao, a Chinese online shopping platform).
So our goal at the time was to use technology to lower the barrier of trust and reduce transaction costs. From an internet perspective, the idea was entirely sound. It was just very difficult.
I was on the phone this evening with an investor friend. He asked me to help him find reliable people in AI.
We had actually only met once, at another friend’s gathering. That connection alone added a layer of trust. He hoped to find dependable people through me, and he particularly emphasized that they had to be dependable.
It suddenly struck me that however the times change, the way people get things done follows the same logic. Trust and reliability matter.
Trust is an invisible transaction cost. Before doing business with you, other people will certainly weigh that cost. It exists between companies, and between individuals too.
I remembered someone from a group chat who was organizing an event. He added me on WeChat but never notified me about it. Whether I attended was a small matter, really. But the way he handled it in the end gave me an immediate feeling: I couldn’t work with this person in the future. Too casual, not steady enough.
I was a little startled when that thought occurred to me. But the label had stuck. Then I used it as a mirror to look back at myself, reminding myself not to make the same mistake.
Often, an impression of someone is formed in an instant, without anyone noticing. You never know when you might miss a 财神 (a “god of wealth”—someone who could bring an opportunity).
Seen this way, trust and reliability really are a person’s most valuable assets. And they will become even more valuable in the future.