Trust, but verify.
Some of my greatest blunders can be traced back to promises made to me by others to deliver actions or products, which were not delivered. This became my blunder because I had made promises depending upon others fulfilling their promises to me. I assumed that because a promise was made that it would be fulfilled. I have written in another post about the dangers of assuming and I have, unfortunately fallen prey to that more than I care to admit.
It's not that most people intentionally break their promise, but it happens. That is why I say, trust - trust that people mean what they say and have every intention of fulfilling their commitments. But I have also learned to verify. Verify that the promise is being fulfilled before it becomes an emergency or failure. You could also call this accountability. Holding people accountable is unpopular and challenging.
If you will be judged on your output, and most of us are, and your output is dependent at least in part upon others, and this is also true for most of us, then follow-up accountability needs to become second nature to you if you are going to succeed; Trust, but verify.
It's not rocket science.
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