There are things you know. These are things you’re certain of — you’ve got data, you’ve got proof. These are things that are absolutely true.
And then there are things you think you know.
Assumptions are dangerous. They start out as ideas that your team kicks around, maybe based on something you heard at a conference or something you read online. They’re based on casual conversations or hearsay. With time, those assumptions can easily turn into things you believe. And if you don’t take the time to prove them out, they will quickly turn into universal truths.
These assumptions might be right or wrong — you don’t know yet — but you can’t let them guide your thinking. You can’t let these untruths or half-truths or maybe-truths influence your long-term decision-making process. You can’t confuse them with things that are actually, provably true.
One bad assumption can lead to a whole slew of bad decisions.
So be willing to challenge your assumptions. Prove them out. See what’s actually true and what’s not. Then you can make the best decisions for you, moving forward, with the proof you need.
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That photo of math homework comes via Unsplash and photographer Chris Liverani.