I have always believed that you should lock up cash and other assets. A few times I have heard the “you don’t trust me” argument.  I respond with “I trust you; otherwise I would not employee you. I secure cash and other valuables to protect you.” I go on to explain that if cash were to disappear, an investigation would follow. Everyone with access to the cash would be questioned. Restricting access to the cash protects employees from suspicion.

Long ago I had a job in a restaurant.  Part of my responsibility was running the cash register.  One day some money went missing. The owner investigated. He identified four people who were always on duty when the cash went missing.  He fired all four to get rid of the guilty person. While this wasn’t fair to the innocent party, it did stop the stealing. Fortunately, I was not among the fired; but I could have been.

We never know for sure who may be inclined to dishonesty. We learn from scripture that Judas “was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.” (John 12:6b, NIV) That’s why good cash controls and audits are necessary.

The question comes up often:  should we work Sundays?  When readers and clients ask this question, I start with the following two scriptures. Moses spoke to the people and said, "Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the LORD your God has commanded you.” (Deuteronomy 5:12, NIV) The Lord also said, “Then he asked them, ‘If one of you has a child or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull it out?’” (Luke 14:15, NIV)

Recently I failed to complete a project for a client.  Part of the problem was that my client was slow in delivering some information I needed. In addition, a third party failed to deliver on time as well.  I had legitimate reasons for being late. Here are the steps I followed.

Francis Fukuyama wrote an excellent book entitled Trust nearly 20 years ago. He looked at the effects of trust in society with a focus on the United States, Japan, China, and southern Italy.

Fukuyama studied the presence or absence of trust as a source of social order and economic growth and the effect on overall productivity. He found, as we should expect, that the United States, up until about 1960, had tremendous competitive advantages because of its high level of trust. As trust has declined in America, the rate of economic growth has slowed. 

When someone makes a mistake in a business, a customer or a boss is unhappy. They want to know what happened, and who did what. Often, the person who made the mistake looks for someone or something to blame.