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Quickly Identify and Manage Assumptions

We all know what happens when we make assumptions. It’s not good in our personal lives, and it’s definitely not good for business.

The “ossification of assumptions” — the hardening of assumptions into facts without validation — negatively impacts decision-making and actions, ultimately increasing the risk of failure. To avoid the slippery slope of making assumptions, learn from a proven technique the military has used for decades: Known Knowns. 

Known Knowns is a technique to quickly assess and validate what you do and don’t know. This exercise enables you to bucket data points and get your team on the same page.

By the way, you don’t have to be a Four-Star General to benefit from using Known Knowns. Watch my Known Knowns PowerPlay™ video to help you get started now.

Play of the week

POWERPLAY™ #24 KNOWN KNOWNS

A Technique to Help You Identify and Manage Assumptions

If you want to be a better leader, stop making assumptions. Known Knowns looks at four categories of information and it quickly answers three basic questions to help you identify and manage assumptions:

  • What assumptions do we know (validated)?
  • What assumptions can we know but have not validated?
  • What assumptions can we not know?

Watch the PowerPlay™ video and download the Quick Reference Guide here.

YOUR MISSION

  1. Identify an opportunity with one of your teams to validate their assumptions prior to executing their plan.
  2. Use the PowerPlay™ to identify which assumptions are in the Known Unknown category that should be validated prior to execution.
  3. Have the team track the assumptions and their validations to completion.

WHAT I’M EXPLORING

  • After nearly 15 months of working virtually, The Persimmon Group team will soon begin the transition back to the office. But we won’t be going back in exactly the same way as before. I don’t think of this as “the new normal.” Instead, we are planning for “a better normal.” What does that look like? Find out on my blog. What’s a “better normal” look like for you and your organization?
  • In a switch, some companies are saying college degrees may not be needed for certain entry-level positions. This move could help address inequalities in business and society. Organizations such as IBM and Merck have already endorsed it. Read about it in the Wall Street Journal.