Trip or Treat - Hallowe'en Comes Early This Year

The almost-got-it-right seven-year old struck gold again this week.  Getting ready for the first day of school, he asked his mother to wait while he got "just one more thing for my bag of trips."  We all knew that he, an inveterate prankster really meant to say "bag of tricks."  I immediately thought of Dominique Strauss-Kahn's unfathomable taste in consorts, but that's a topic for another time, after the seven-year olds have all gone to bed.

Later, contemplating the pastoral scene on the label of a flagon of single malt, I began to wonder how many sales executives have a bag of tricks they carry with them on prospective customer calls.  And then, how many of the deals made trip up on some snag or obstacle that wouldn't be a problem for an open collaborative business relationship, but which bring mutual endeavors to a grinding halt.

In the end, making relationships work as well as they ought to requires, in addition to communications, collaboration, visibility, and honesty, the bedrock foundation of trust.

And, it's rare to find trust somewhere in the bag of trips.  It generally rises to the surface immediately after the unicorns emerge.