The I KNOW! Mindset - Enemy of Improvement

A 3-minute read...

We all want things to get better. Whether it’s our company, our relationships, our community, ourselves – we want something to be better. 

Some of the things we want to get better are easy to make better. And some of the things we want to get better are really tough.

Today's insight will help you:

• Solve tough problems
• Create win-win-win out of seemingly intractable conflicts
• Learn from your mistakes
• Understand other people
• Understand yourself

There are many tools designed to help you do all these things. My history with TOC (Theory of Constraints) has helped me build quite a large basket. But there is one key ingredient that is absolutely necessary to getting the most benefit from any problem-solving methodology.  

You have to want to make it better more than you want to be right.

Yes, we all want things to be better. But that's not the question. The question is, do you want to make it better more than you need to be right? Everything rides on this. If you don’t want it badly enough that you’re willing to accept that your own assumptions might be flawed, then the tools that you’ve collected, the tools I teach my clients, and the tools we still don’t know about, they will not help. 

You decide.  Is it more important to be right or to improve the situation?

When you've decided it is more important to improve the situation than to be right, the rest of this newsletter will be worth the read.

Assumptions

We make assumptions every day.

Assumptions are what we take for granted as facts. They’re hidden in the background of our minds. Our invisible thoughts.

When a decision is based on a flawed assumption – an assumption that isn’t true for the situation we are in – then the conclusions we reach and decisions we make are also flawed.

Becoming aware of the assumptions made is critical to decision-making, problem-solving, collaboration and process performance. When we go about any of these tasks without awareness of what we are assuming, we are gambling on the outcomes. 

Assumption Hacking

Assumption Hacking is about exposing and challenging the assumptions we make and then solving for the ones we find are faulty.  That's what this weekly newsletter is about: sharing Assumption Hacking tips, tricks and habits with you.

Check Your Mindset

The frame of reference you use when we are in the midst of a tough problem, intractable conflict, deteriorating relationship, or insurmountable obstacle. 

Without the right mindset, the tools won’t help.

When we are convinced that we already KNOW the answer, we close ourselves off to the possibility that we don’t, or that there may be a more powerful solution than the one we’re locked into. We put ourselves firmly into confirmation bias mode, and only seek evidence to substantiate what we think we already know.

Instead of looking for evidence to prove what you already think, do the opposite. Look for evidence that disproves what you already think. 

If you find out that your assumption was invalid, you have a chance to course-correct before you put more effort into an unhelpful conclusion, decision, or solution.

See you next Tuesday! 

PS: I'd love your feedback and to know if there are any subjects you'd like me to cover in future issues of The Assumption Hacker's Advantage!

Whenever you're ready, here are a couple of ways I can help you:

• SBC Assessment. In a one-on-one session, I guide you to use the Assumption Hacking Framework to uncover the faulty assumption at the core of your Single Biggest Challenge.
• Jenrada Programs. Workshops and longer engagements that we customize to help you uplift your organization into one of aligned problem solvers delivering extraordinary results. Complete this form,  reply to this email, or schedule a discovery call.