Design from Trust Is Widespread Already

It's just that nobody calls it that.

Have you surfed the Internet? Used a ride-sharing service like Uber or Lyft? Attended an Unconference? Held any Local Currency? Made a Microloan through Kiva? Been to a store or restaurant where you could Pay What You Want? Edited the Wikipedia? Served time in Norway? Honored an Honor Code? Attended Quaker Meeting? Cultivated an Edible Landscape? Paid something forward? Received an Unconditional Cash Transfer? Experienced Workplace Democracy? Written Open Source code? Engaged in Restorative Justice? Tried Unschooling? Walked or driven through a Traffic Calmed intersection?

If your answer to any of those is yes, you've already experienced Design from Trust.

The idea for Design from Trust wasn't an abstract model built up from first principles about trust and social dynamics. It showed up when I noticed the common threads that wove through many of these examples.

The early examples often showed up in stories about their inventors. For example, the story of Muhammad Yunus giving a small loan to a circle of 21 Bangladeshi women taught me about microfinance. Pam Warhurst's TEDx talk explained how inspired citizens could turn ordinary towns into edible landscapes, transforming their town, creating food and building community. John Taylor Gatto convinced me that our compulsory education system stamps out curiosity and our sense of agency, and ought to be replaced with something more like self-directed education.

The common threads

DfT points out the thread, describes a reliable process.

If we adopted DfT, we might solve big problems

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