'Unchecked' assumptions play a pivotal role in creating harmful 'intention vs. impact gaps' for most people...especially leaders and teams. And...we all do it!
Whether we are wearing our leader hat, our parent hat, or any other hat, we make all kinds of assumptions about people and things. It's quite automatic (reactive).
We all do it
We're a judge-y species after all, and in some cases this has (and can) serve us well. For example, 'walking towards that growling sound in the bush might not end well', 'giving my SIN to this nice person calling from the government is not a good idea', etc.
But 'unchecked' assumptions can also negatively impact our relationships, quality of work, and personal purpose.
What 'unchecked' assumptions are you holding?
Just for you, here are some of the 'unchecked assumptions' we've been helping leaders and teams cultivate awareness, willingness, and skill to navigate:
- I don't need to do the discovery work (my 'truths' are not based on assumptions)
- I clearly understand the power dynamics at play on my team
- I'm aware of my unintentional misuses of power
- I've clearly communicated my intentions and desired impact
- My team has a shared understanding and are aligned with our direction
- I know the true needs, values, and goals of my team members
- I'm asking the right (powerful) questions
- My team members feel psychologically safe to provide meaningful feedback
- My intentions - decisions and actions - will achieve my desired impact
- I'm measuring things through our employee satisfaction and/or engagement surveys that matter and give me the insight I need
- My desired impact has the same value for the people it's intended for, as it does for me
Do any of these sound familiar?
Some helpful tools for checking assumptions
Here are some tools that have been helpful for us and our clients to raise awareness individual and collective awareness as we go about our journeys of creating meaningful connection and positive impact. Or, as we sometimes say, 'check your self, before you wreck your self and your relationships'.
- Aligning your intention and impact
- The ladder of inference
- Assumption-clearing
- Asking powerful questions
More resources and insights here if you're picking up what we're putting down.
We hope you find this helpful, and please let us know what tools or guides that are helping you!
