I hadn’t really considered it before, but I often think of convenience and trust as being very similar things when in reality they’re not.
This came up on one of Adam Grant’s recent podcasts where he was discussing the idea of trust with Rachel Botsman. From the show, Botsman explains the difference:
“So I do this thing sometimes when I’m speaking to audiences and I ask the audience to clap for the brand that they trust the most. And 99% of people clap for Amazon. And the reason why, when you ask the audience, they start talking about how, well, you know, Amazon delivered the packages on time and it’s really easy to return these things. And then I say, well, is that convenience or is that trust?“
It’s a great point, and Amazon is a perfect example. They’re a company that provides amazing convenience, yet they deserve very little trust.
I think this can apply to many (all?) of the big tech companies, with Google likely topping that list. Some of their services are wildly convenient, but Google as a company deserves almost no trust.
That’s not to say that a company or person can’t have both, but just because they have one doesn’t necessarily mean they get the other.
