29. Roles of a go-between
Second,
help to judge the partner’s potential and its economic value, in view of
possible alternatives, and its reliability in competence.
Third,
provide an assessment of the fields of force facing both parties: risks and
opportunities involved in the networks to which they belong, and other
strategic risks and opportunities. A risk in a network is, for example, that
trust in the partner may not suffice if some third party, a competitor perhaps,
may take over the partner.
On the
relational side:
Fourth,
help mutual understanding of ideas, intuitions, attitudes, habits, positions,
cultures and skills of collaboration. Look also at the levels on which trust is
needed, and how they are connected: personal (who are we dealing with),
organizational (how are they supported by their organization) and environmental
(what are the outside pressures of competition, politics and the economy).
Fifth, the
go-between can adopt a more or less formal role in arbitration or mediation, to
prevent conflicts from arising or escalating to a legal conflict.
Sixth,
perhaps the most important but also most difficult, help in the difficult
process of building trust, preventing its undue collapse, and, if possible, to
repair broken trust. This includes many of the features discussed in previous
items in this blog. Help to practise openness, give benefit of the doubt when
something goes wrong, help to empathise by understanding the partner’s
situation and the circumstances and pressures he faces. Eliminate undue
suspicions; help to deal with uncertainty concerning the causes of
disappointments (the causal ambiguity I mentioned before). See to it
that no unrealistic expectations are raised whose disappointment may destroy
trust. Help to explore the limits of trustworthiness and the need for control.
Keep an eye on imbalances of dependence, and try to compensate for them.
Seventh, not
the least important, help to disentangle, with minimum damage and acrimony,
relationships that have become irreparably damaged or where mutual benefit has
dwindled, to adapt to changing conditions.
These roles
all require their specific knowledge, skills and experience, and they all
require reliability in competence, and trustworthiness in the form of fair
dealing. Some roles may be combined in a single go-between, but it would be
difficult to combine them all.
Candidates
for a go-between are various. There is certainly a market for it, for
commercially operating go-betweens, but there would have to be a safeguard for
competence and integrity, as with doctors and notaries. Banks, notaries,
accountants, consultants, academics, and government agencies might all qualify,
in one role or another.
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