Assumptions vs. Facts

Colleagues,

MVP: Acceptance does not require understanding.

There are a lot of things I do not understand.

There are a lot of people I do not understand.

Yet, my “need to know” instinct is so strong, I have a habit of making up information to help explain why I don’t understand something. Here are a few examples:

• I don’t hear back from a potential client (fact); They don’t want to work with me (fiction)
• Someone doesn’t complete my course (fact); The course is bad (fiction)
• A car cuts me off on the freeway (fact); The driver is rude (fiction)

A big problem with making up explanations is that they reflect my own personal fears and biases and these fictional explanations are usually wrong. To wit:

• I don’t hear back from a potential client (fact); Something blew up and they are in survival mode (fact)
• Someone doesn’t complete my course (fact); They got called into a meeting and forgot about it (fact)
• A car cuts me off on the freeway (fact); The driver is distressed about the call they just received that their mother is in the hospital (fact)

Sometimes we can’t understand why someone behaves the way we do, but guess what?

Our job as leaders is to meet people where they are. We can be present. We can listen intently, and in listening, we can let go of the fictions and gather the facts.

Today’s intention: Monitor the assumptions you make today. What do you tell yourself about why people are behaving the way they are? Where are you making assumptions versus applying facts?

Cheers!

Frederick