Trust as a competency?! - Part 1

I had the great pleasure of meeting with Stephen M.R. Covey at the Learning 2006 conference last week in Orlando, FL. Stephen is the son of Stephen R. Covey, the best-selling author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

Stephen was one of the featured speakers at Learning 2006, and Elliott Masie did his masterful job of replacing the typical keynote model with an up close and personal interview with Stephen. Afterwards I met up with Stephen for some additional discussion about the points he raised on stage and in his new book called The Speed of Trust: The one thing that changes everything.

Frankly, the book has its ups and downs, BUT the points that Covey raises are extremely important and very worth considering. The whole area of trust is becoming more and more important it seems, and I think this is great and long overdue!

In spite of how often we think we are more enlightened, intelligent, and evolved than ever before, and “Oh so high tech”, isn’t it interesting how often we end up coming back to basic human attributes and values as the thing that really matters and makes a difference. Along with values such as honesty, integrity, and authenticity, TRUST seems to emerge at the top of the heap. Consider, for example, something as seemingly technical as the Web. Tim Berners-Lee, the acknowledged father and parent of the Web, has always had the vision for what he refers to as the “Semantic Web” wherein the Web incorporates not just data and information, but meaning.

There isn’t space here to go into more details on the Semantic Web, but if this concept is new to you, it would be well worth your time to do a bit of research on this topic. My point, however, is to note that when Tim lays out his explanations and blueprints for the future of the Semantic Web, you will find that at its foundation or pinnacle is what he calls the “web of trust”. 

Perhaps what is more readily visible to most people today is the fundamental role that trust plays in our so-called new economy and new world. Examples include needing to know how much we can trust what we read and who we interact with on the Web. Is that entry in Wikipedia true or fictional? Which of the millions of blog postings can you believe? When is the e-mail you receive really from your bank and when is it a thief trying to get you to divulge your account information or other personal identification details? These are all very real issues that bring us back to trust.

There's lots more to say about this topic of trust and Stephen's new book, so I'll talk more about it next time.

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