Would You Trust This Man?

Last week, the New York Times reported on a research study which assessed people’s honesty. Wallets filled with money were left around the world. In the majority of circumstances, the wallets were returned with the money untouched.

In business, it seems as if far too much time is spent worrying about the honesty and integrity of others. Long-winded NDA’s are required before any conversation commences. Project agreements can be filled with pages of legalese, and master service agreements can take months to complete.

Maybe I’m lucky, or a good judge of character, but in my long career I have never had anyone violate the terms of an NDA. I have never had a client who didn’t pay for services rendered, and I have never been sued by anyone — or even threatened with legal action — for anything the organizations I have run have ever done.

I am not suggesting that contracts are unnecessary, or that organizations shouldn’t take prudent steps to protect themselves, but I fundamentally believe that we all would be far more successful if we spent more time on what we can do together than worrying about how we may screw each other. What do you think?

Lawrence M. Kimmel is CEO of Rung-UP, the first agency custom built for C-Level executives at mid-sized organizations. He can be reached at Hi@Rung-UP.com.