TL;DR: 

• Dog I was supposed to be rescuing ran away the first day
• I should’ve trusted her
• You should trust your co-workers to complete tasks correctly, work the required amount of hours, work remotely without a babysitter

This week marks two months since my family and I adopted a four-year-old rescued mini bernedoodle. In that time, I’ve come to appreciate the importance of trust within group dynamics, from father-adopted dog relationships to business teams, and every possible option in between.

Let’s start at the beginning, a very good place to start. Here is the initial timeline of Mae’s absorption into our family:

• 46 seconds after getting her: Trembling in one of my daughter’s lap in the backseat of the car
• 11 minutes after getting her: Trembling in the other daughter’s lap in the backseat of the car
• 27 minutes after getting her: Afraid to enter her new house 
• 28 minutes after getting her: Running snout first into her new storm door
• 36 minutes after getting her: Excitedly exploring her new backyard
• 41 minutes after getting her: Timidly exploring her new house
• 60 minutes after getting her: Jumping on the couch between her new human sisters
• 75 minutes after getting her: Letting her eyes drift shut for a nap, hopefully realizing she’s safe and already very, very loved

And that’s the end of the timeline, because four hours after getting her, all hell broke loose. Or more accurately, Mae the rescued mini bernedoodle broke loose.

That evening, with the sun having already ceded its position to a moon ill-equipped to illuminate my suburban Philadelphia neighborhood, I stepped outside to take out the trash. The storm door eased shut, then flung open — followed by a sudden rush of gray fur — as Mae made her escape.

Trash bags abandoned, I gave chase. Fruitless. A little gray blob fading into the night. Turns out her adorably stubby legs can really motor.

A neighbor saw us and posted to a neighborhood Facebook group and strangers took to the streets searching for her and my wife drove around with our youngest daughter sobbing in the backseat, and then my phone chimed with a video doorbell notification.

I was too busy to check, hiking through nearby woods I thought I saw Mae sprint into. Lamenting how in the world we could’ve lost this former puppy mill breeder dog that we were supposed to be saving. Then came another chime. Friends of my daughter were leaning eyeball first into the doorbell camera lens. I huffed to them through the phone – “Hello?”

“Mae is on your porch.”

What?!?!

“She’s right here, we have her.”

I hoofed it back, adrenaline masking the fire in my lungs and scratches on my legs. “How?” I wheezed. “How did you possibly get her?”

They didn’t. They had come to the house sans Mae, and had turned their heads to the right after ringing our doorbell, and there she was, sitting on our porch. Waiting.

A check of the video footage revealed that if my wife and kids had stayed three minutes longer (after my wife returned to grab them to continue the search), they would’ve been at the front door when Mae came sauntering up, nose to the wind, ready to be let back in.

Somehow, on the first day in our house, after sprinting all across the neighborhood in the dark, she found her way home.

How is any of this relevant to business?

Trust.

Trust Matters. A Lot.

I didn’t trust Mae. I assumed she’d wanted out, and that once she’d gotten out, that was it. Skittish of people, there was no way she’d approach a stranger trying to help. That meant she’d either be lost to the cold or hit by a car. What other possible scenario could occur?

Instead, she returned when she was ready. She proved herself responsible and capable. Worthy of trust.

What a great lesson to apply to our business lives.

According to this article from the Australian government, “Trust is a key element that underpins success at work.” In fact, the writer goes so far as to say (please excuse the Australian English): “People who work in high-trust organizations report greater engagement, productivity, energy and satisfaction. They have less stress, fewer sick days and less burnout… the more your team trusts you—and the more you trust them—the more success you will have together.”

Consider these scenarios:

How many times have you handled a project that should’ve been delegated?

Maybe it’s time to trust someone else with the next assignment. They may not get it perfect the first time, but if you keep doing it instead, they never will.

How many managers are weary of trusting their subordinates to uphold summer hours?

We all dream of those sweet summer days when, after working 10-hour shifts Monday-Thursday, we get Friday off — extra long beach weekend! But I’ve come across many a manager who doesn’t trust their employees to actually work 10-hour days the rest of the week, and therefore get all their work done before the Friday weekend. How about instead of assuming they can’t or won’t, we give them the chance to prove they can?

How many companies bar employees from working remotely, assuming they are all a bunch of Maes who will take off and get lost in the cold?

As an agency that has been remote for its entirety (which is more than 15 years, check out how we’ve accomplished that), we’ve often heard from others that they won’t go remote because their managers can’t see what their teams are doing. If your employees have to be babysat that closely, there’s a bigger organizational problem than working remotely.

How about we give our coworkers the opportunity to earn our trust and respect and appreciation? We can start small, by giving them a task they may not be ready for, to see how well they step up. We’ll of course be there for support if needed — I was, after all, simultaneously cold and sweaty, traipsing through dark woods, ready to help Mae.

But she didn’t need my help.

I had automatically assumed she was incapable of looking out for herself. I never gave her a chance to prove her abilities.

Let’s all take that as a lesson, to put more faith in those around us. And when they succeed, let’s reward them with loads of nice belly rubs (or an appropriate equivalent).

Bonus

Just like I enjoy brainstorming taglines for Arc Intermedia’s digital marketing clients, I had fun brainstorming nicknames for Mae. Here’s what I’ve got so far:

• The Marvelous Mrs. Maesel
• The Amaezing Spidermae
• Maed Marian
• Maejor Cuteness
• Captain Maehem
• Maebe it’s Maebeline
• Maeple Syrup
• Maeflower
• Tomaeto Pie
• The Animaeniac
• The Maetre d’
• The Maeor
• The Maeze Runner
• The Maetrix: Reloaded
• Inmaete 24601
• Iron Maeden
• Away in a Maenger
• M. Night Shyamaelan
• Little Miss Timothée Chalamae
• Simaeon Rice
• Maeonnaise / Maeo
• Maedae
• Maefly
• Maebel
• Maezy
• Maezidaezicals
• Jamaecan Me Crazy
• Mamma Mae-a!