“You disappear every time you leave the room“. That’s a line from an obscure movie I once saw, back when the only way to watch a movie was to go to a cinema. I believe Jack Nicholson was the actor who recited that line, but I’m probably mistaken.

I don’t quite know what it means, but I guess I get the gist of it. When someone close to you leaves, be it the room or any other place, you trust that they will come back. If you are feeling particularly insecure, you might be afraid they won’t.

Trust is the number one asset you have in business. Yes, it sounds corny. But it’s also true.

When Hegel calls family divine, it’s because family supersedes individuality. When a family member needs you, you get on a plane. Pronto.

Business is not like family. A contract is made up between two individuals with passports. When you’ve made a deal, you are expected to keep to it, to the letter, or else you get dragged to court.

But still, as it is said, to make a good impression, you need to go the extra mile. Take it to the next level. Burn the midnight oil.

Which is to say, to go beyond the clauses in your contract. Beyond what you signed up for.

That’s beginning to look a little like what you would do for family, now doesn’t it?

Trust in government is at an all time low. Trust in the internet has collapsed. We all know the reasons. Social media, deep fakes and AI. Corrupt and inept politicians working for big bucks instead of for the people.

Trump broke our trust in the USA. We now know a contract with the USA can be ripped up on a whim. 80 years of trust has come to an end. It will cost another 80 years to restore.

Trust can be faked. You get a message from your youngest, saying, I’m in trouble, could you send me money, here’s my account number. You ring your lover after days of ghosting, they say, I’ll ring you right back. Never do.

A contract is trust on paper, but paper does not embody trust. When parties sign, there is this nodding of heads and shaking of hands in acknowledgment of the trust put in each other. When all is well, going the extra mile beyond the clauses of the contract is never an issue. Only when the unspoken trust embodied in the handshake is broken, do we scour the text in search of an excuse to break it.

We are in a line of business that nobody seems to understand. Or want to understand. The software business we are in is maybe up there with the legal business, containing intricate details in obscure terms that make most mere mortals’ heads spin. One is called legalese, the other code.

Which means that trust plays a huge part in relationships with clients. When they get their plumbing fixed, at least they can see something in their basement has changed. What they see from our work is that the button is no longer that nasty green but a nice blue colour. What they don’t understand is why it might cost hours to do. They need to trust us on that.

In these times of artificial intelligence and distrust in the internet it’s ordinary good old-fashioned trust between humans that makes for a long term relationship. At our company, we are changing our contracts so they better reflect our commitment to making our clients’ businesses work. They show that we take on responsibility and risk: our clients success is our own.

And still. We will continue to go the extra mile. Mutual success is about showing the other that what you’re about is building the best product possible. And that you’re a stayer. You don’t disappear every time you leave the room.