Assumptions Have Expiration Dates

Note: This post originally appeared on my Optimize Business Results blog on May 16, 2011.

Last month I was a judge for the International Collegiate Business Strategy Competition, which required graduate and undergraduate students to compete against each other in starting and running a business using a sophisticated computer program. One of the most important lessons learned was articulated by members of an MBA team whose seemingly effective strategy went down in flames at the very end: assumptions have expiration dates. That is, leaders must constantly check to be sure that the bases on which they make decisions remain sound and have a specific purpose that continues to serve the organization well.

How many of us question our own assumptions, and those of organizational leaders? How do we even know whether our assumptions are still effective? Here are three ways to determine whether any given assumption remains viable or whether it has reached the ends of its useful life and must go:

1. The answer to the question, “How’s that XYZ (i.e.,
position/concept/process/system/program) working for you?” is negative.

2. No one can remember the purpose of, or reason for, doing XYZ.

3. If you stop doing XYZ, there are no adverse consequences. Things may even
improve!

And by the way: the phrase “We’ve always done it this way” is a dead giveaway that inertia is at work, which means that assumptions definitely need to be re-visited.

I invite you to put your assumptions to any one of the above “tests.” If they pass, the assumptions probably continue to serve your organization well. If they don’t, it’s time to toss them, as they have outlived their usefulness.

© 2012 Pat Lynch. All rights reserved.