 We return to Larry and Phyllis who are tasked to do an experiment in chemistry class. Only one of them can act at a time, and so they take up different tasks, Phyllis reading from the list of test requirements, and Larry assuring that they are available and ready for use. To the question of why this happens, people working in coordination are many times more effective than people working in isolated units. This is a simple observation from early 1900s, and largely accounts for the success of industrial engineering and form and based work management. And again, Dan, who is very good in sports, tells Mark, who strengthens in the classroom subjects, that he will work with him in getting a shot on the baseball team if he will tutor Dan in math. Mark, who really wants to make the team, agrees. This is a basic contract. Contracts are mutual promises. If you do this for me, then I will do that for you. This is the best developed area of modern law, as it is fundamental to almost everything we officially do together. A version of this agreement is used in employment. Another version is applied in marriage. Yet another in the law of agency addressing how one person can represent another. Performance contracts are intentional win-win agreements where all parties to the contract expect to come out ahead for having taken part. When there is a win-win agreement, each party has a basis for trust that the other party will perform, and trust is a universal value. We also face the reality that there are people who look upon interactions as a way to get things from other people. This applies to childhood bullies, as well as professional thieves and robbers. An effective adult will have to recognize the difference and avoid the effort of poorly guided people when seeking coordination. In performance thinking, the contract is a process, a means for gaining a valued result. That valued result is not necessarily the same for both parties to a contract, but must be real, attainable, and valued by both. The appropriate legal term is consideration. It is a commitment made by a party to the contract, a cost that is being incurred in order to gain the result. Contracts are only enforced where there is mutual consideration, where each party has something to lose if the result is not accomplished. If there is consideration by only one party, it is a promise rather than a contract. Contract agreements to coordinate efforts are win-win arrangements, where all the people who take part expect to gain what they value from their coordinated efforts. You should note that these are not support agreements where one party helps another to attain something as might happen with friendship. This is where both parties are active for the purpose of gaining a mutually valued result. It is a contract offer when a parent tells a child to try something and that they will receive a reward if they do. The child gets to experience something new or to endure something not self-rewarding. The parent gets cooperation for an agreed price. It involves a coordinated effort where the parent and child both gain what they value. It is a contract offer when a teacher offers some special consideration to a student for demonstrating that they have understood a lesson. The very purpose of making the offer is for both the teacher and student to get what they value. It is a contract offer when a young lad offers a girl a token of affection, a class ring or the like. If she accepts, they both get the benefits of being a couple instead of just friends. It is a contract offer when a student is associated with a school in order to earn a certificate. The school gets recognition for completing a phase of educational support for which it has been paid and the student gets the official document attesting to completion of the course of study. The concept of contract is a way that people come into coordination. It is a way for each party to trust the other to perform their part of the effort because they gain value when they do. To create a performance contract, you must find value in what the other person values. This is one of the reasons we learn about one another so that we can see the value where we value the same end result and harness our joint efforts to getting things done. Trust is the heart of performance and trust is generally found where the desired effort yields what the other party to the contract also values. Contracts do not create trust. It is trust that sets the human foundation for entering into contracts.