Assumptions Will Murder Your Momentum

Don’t assume anything.

Nobody knows what you’re thinking.
Nobody knows what you’ve been doing.
Nobody knows what you want to do.
Nobody knows where you’re headed.

Don’t assume anything.

As I was driving to the car dealership this morning, watching people drive, trying my best not to judge, I was reminded of the dangers of making assumptions as people changed lanes and cut people off without any warning, no blinker, no signal, no attempt to communicate with the other drivers on the road that change was coming.

Don’t assume anything. Don’t assume the people around you know what you’re doing or what you’re thinking or what you’re planning. Imagine, if you will, that the people around you only know as much as you’ve shared with them. Let me say that again, the people around you only know as much as you’ve shared with them.

Change isn’t an easy process, but it’s often a necessary one. And communicating change is coming provides a buffer, creates room to breathe, to prepare for what’s coming. When you see someone’s blinker, your mind processes all sorts of scenarios and options and ultimately leads to you making a choice…slow down and let them in…speed up and be a jerk…either way, you’ve been given a choice, the opportunity to play an active role in the process of change, not merely a subject of change.

So, what’s going on right now in your organization? What are you doing or planning or wanting to do that, as of right now, you’ve yet to communicate with anyone else? Kill the assumptions before the assumptions kill your momentum. Nobody knows what’s going on. Inform them. Get them involved.

Don’t assume anything.