The Speed of Trust is Driving a Transparent Economy

Are we seeing the REWARDS go to those businesses that deliver transparency?

Transparency is operating in such a way that it is easy for others to see what actions are performed.

It has been defined simply as "the perceived quality of intentionally shared information from a sender".
~ wikipedia

Digital disruption based on this slide is about assets and ownership.  

Note these businesses have created record valuations in record times.  If we look further there is a key element to this disruptive force that is common in these and similar businesses, and that is the TRUST created through transparency.  

We are seeing the quality of transparency being rewarded with degrees of trust from the user or receiver.   TRUST should be at the top of any business value creation priorities.   Trust builds relationships and relationships are the foundation of business.

Stephen M.R. Covey in his book "The Speed of Trust" states:

“Trust is the glue of life.
It's the most essential ingredient in effective communication.
It's the foundational principle that holds all relationships.”

"I am also convinced that in every situation, nothing is as fast as the speed of trust. "

If you are a user of the following apps think about your relationship with the app and the providers...  what is your level of trust and what gives you that degree of trust?  

Taxi apps like UBER, Grabtaxi, mytaxi, hailo, etc deliver transparency through showing where the taxis are, how long they will take to get to the pick up location, provide a fare estimate, provide drivers details and phone number, the type of car, provide feedback flows.  All this leads to stronger relationships - through an APP!  I love these apps as they make my life easier and I get more choice by knowing the car type, where they are, how long to arrive, easy booking process, etc.

LinkedIn has created a platform of building a variety of direct professional relationships.  It has built in levels of transparency in the connections and communications.  Profile transparency is one key factor to being successful in developing relationships on LinkedIn.  With more than 2 new users per SECOND, the speed of growth is staggering for a commercial platform.

AirBnB provides transparency for the renter on the hosts details, previous guest feedback, and direct communication to the host.  The host also gets to view the renters details and feedback from other hosts. 

FaceBook's phenomenal growth is well documented.  With profile transparency comes vulnerability and intimacy in a technology. Love it or hate it, it is by the results what people are looking for.

Amazon have set industry benchmarks in Pricing, Customer relationships and Supply Chain transparency.  What others think of a product brings in another trust building element.  They have made retailers sit up and rethink the quality of their customer relationships.  

Blockchains - As we have seen with the rise of Bitcoin we can now see an evolvement to a financial transaction transparency by decentralising the control of the data so no one entity has ultimate control of the data.  Blockchains will become a major disrupter in a number of industries where transparency is lacking.

Touchpoints that create TRUST makes business faster, smoother and easier.

The speed of trust can be calculated as follows:

(S × E)T = R
[Strategy x Execution]
multiplied by Trust
equals
Results
~ Stephen M.R. Covey, 
The SPEED of Trust:
The One Thing that Changes Everything

I leave you with this thought...

Every business will need to work out their own unique solutions to build customer trust, whether it involves complete transparency or smaller UX cues.

Until we’ve developed a wide library of best practices for customer trustworthiness across industries, there’s still plenty of room for experimentation in the field.

One thing remains certain, though: If you’re not  PRIORITIZING TRUST  in your own tech business, you’re behind the curve no matter how revolutionary your product might be.

~ Himanshu Sareen is the CEO
of  Icreon Tech,