What are you assuming?

What are you assuming?

One of the most useful coaching tools I know is “Challenging Assumptions”.

What prevents one person from being as successful as another? Why do some people have all the good luck and others all the bad? Why do certain individuals repeat the same patterns time and again whilst others are able to move past negative experiences?

Understanding the power of negative assumptions and learning how see the positive-opposite can help you achieve more in your personal and professional life, and help those around you do the same.

Why is this important?
Research carried out at The University of Michigan Business School suggests that Optimism has a positive relationship with change and performance – the more optimistic a leader, the more effective change will be and the more performance will improve.

Question 1: What is the challenge?
Let’s use Suzanne as an example. Suzanne owns a small PR company. Over the last 12 months many of her competitors have gone out of business. Times are said to be hard in this sector – everyone is talking about recession. Industry wisdom is that PR budgets are the first to be cut when companies are looking to make savings. The challenge for Suzanne is how to survive or even grow in these conditions.

Question 2: What am I assuming?
Suzanne considers the assumptions she is making about herself, others, the situation and The World.

Assumptions about herself:
I am no better than my colleagues who have lost their businesses.
I don’t have any experience with surviving economic conditions like these.
Assumptions about others:
My staff is nervous and will be looking for work elsewhere.
Companies are cutting their PR budgets.
Assumptions about the situation:
This isn’t the time for growth. It is more sensible to reduce staff and wait for the danger to pass.
If other companies are going out of business, why wouldn’t we?

Assumptions about The World:
Surviving in times like these is more about luck than judgement.
You have to be big – small companies can’t survive.

Question 3: What would the positive-opposite be?
We can see that there is no real “truth” behind these assumptions. (It is always easy to see someone else’s assumptions! When doing this exercise yourself, you might prefer to ask yourself – “What do I know to be true about myself, others, the situation and The World”. Then consider how these so-called “truths” are actually huge assumptions.)

So, what is the positive-opposite? For example, Suzanne is assuming she is no better than her competitors. A positive-opposite assumption might be that she knows more than them having seen them lose their businesses. Armed with that knowledge, she is in a better position to survive. Also, perhaps she has other qualities that they didn’t have. Perhaps her business is quite different to theirs.

Equally Suzanne is assuming that you have to be big to survive in times like these. What if she assumes instead that small is actually an advantage? If she were to assume this, how might she go about business differently right now?

Question 4: What evidence is there to support these new assumptions?
Given that you have probably been making these assumptions for some time, you’ll need to collate some evidence that the new assumption is as true or truer than the old one. Work on this with a colleague, friend or coach if you are finding this difficult.
“But these assumptions aren’t true”

The point about challenging assumptions is that they become true when you give them credit. When we expect the world to treat us in a certain way, we see lots of examples that prove us right. Choosing positive, empowering beliefs about the world, others and ourselves gives us a greater ability to overcome challenges. Instead of believing nothing is possible, we start to believe that anything is possible.