Trust in Kanban

The reason that Kanban has worked for me so well is trust.  I've found based on my experience that trust is the most important characteristic of high performing teams.  Under pressure and during the most dire circumstances, teams whose members trust each other perform at a high level to meet any challenges and overcome any obstacles they encounter.  On my projects, one of the ways trust is built among team members is by making policies explicit.  No one is surprised.  Everyone is treated fairly.  With clients trust is built through focusing on quality.  The client starts to trust your team.  They begin to understand that you share their vision, that you care about their results, and that you're willing to go above and beyond what they even require.  Trust among teams and clients is the axel around which successful projects turn.  Building trust makes it easier to ask your client about mapping their value stream.  Building trust makes it easier to talk to your client about limiting WIP.  Building trust makes it easier to suggest more frequent deliveries.  Building trust makes it easier to explain how balancing demand against throughput is beneficial to the project.  Building trust also makes it easier for your client to say Yes to Kanban.