The most valuable thing on earth after life itself is TRUST.

Why is President Bush watching his approval rating collapse month after month -- Do you trust him? What has he done to build trust? Why are we so comfortable living with England having nuclear weapons and are panic-stricken by Iran's having them -- do you trust them? What have they done to build trust?

What was the cause of Adam & Eve's being banished from the garden of Eden? A breach of trust. Right from the start, up until this very moment it is trust that creates brotherhood between peoples and also builds strong brands. Trust that allows a temporary leap of faith until the facts are known and it is trust that positions the market place for "just-in-time" manufacturing and without which the process would come to a swift and grinding halt.

Johnson & Johnson did all the right things way back when they had the now-historic Tylenol tampering scare to contend with and they wisely focused their attention on maintaining trust at all costs. Enron did all the wrong things. Arthur Anderson drowned in a sea of mistrust flowing from their own questionable ethics and we witnessed a very valuable enterprise rapidly collapse. In my architecture practice I have lectured on this subject constantly to everyone who would listen; staff, clients, consultants, public officials etc. Anything that builds trust is a good thing, anything that reduces trust is a bad thing!

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More valuable than gold, oil, land, stocks, & Treasury notes originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 11 Jun 2006 11:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.