Importance of Trust

I like to talk a lot about trust. Part of that is because I believe in the speed trust can bring to business, and I also believe that trust brings you opportunities you otherwise wouldn’t have.

I previously mentioned my friendship with prolific board game designer Eric Lang. That friendship also brought me some exclusive opportunities that few people know about. Why? Because Eric and I have had an ironclad friendship built on trust for years.

Much like any industry where creative design is key to revenue, there is a lot of secrecy around the development and design of new board games.

Many years ago, when Eric was designing the third instalment of his mythic trilogy, I had a rare opportunity to demonstrate my trustworthiness. Ankh is a board game in which players assume the roles of gods from Ancient Egypt. He walked me through very early prototypes of the game before they were known publicly for my thoughts. However, he had one secret idea in mind that he hadn’t tested yet. He wanted to add small monuments to the board, iconic architectural designs synonymous with Ancient Egypt: pyramids, temples, obelisks, and the Sphinx.

He needed to prototype these to demonstrate his vision for the game, but didn’t have time to work with his usual partners to produce designs. Thankfully, I had access to a 3D printer. Eric wanted to see what the pieces on the board would look like at scale, so he gave me the STL files, and I 3D printed one piece of each monument. It was a huge leap of faith and trust.

The final designs of the game pieces are nearly identical to the ones I printed. Here I was, a board game junkie, holding prototype pieces in my hand for a top-secret board game that wasn’t announced yet, and wouldn’t hit the market for another two years - all because of trust.

Without the trust between Eric and me, it’s possible that these pieces would’ve never been added to the game. The game is far better because of them.

Businesses need trust in much the same way. It’s not just about confidential plans like these; it’s also about putting trust in employees and allowing them to take calculated risks. It’s providing a safety net to allow them to fail and learn. In environments that lack trust, companies can struggle to innovate, move quickly, and encourage employees to try different things to see if they might work. My story is an example from a single game. Imagine how significant it can be to apply a similar level of trust across an entire organization.

At Teamwork Unlocked, we helped teams build trust among themselves through our innovative and immersive workshops.