The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions and Assumptions.
I wonder how many errors in business – or in most any relationship – have occurred because someone “assumed” that someone else had it covered. Do any of following examples sound familiar?
- The car had on its blinker so I assumed it was turning.
Crash.
- We only sell alcohol to adults.
But officer, she looks older, plus she said she was 25.
- Hand me the tickets.
I thought you had them.
- Where’s the camera?
I thought you brought it.
- The ad was printed with misspellings.
I assumed that spell-check would catch that – or the printer. After all, what kind of printer is he anyway?
- The invitation had the wrong date.
I thought that’s the date you told me.
- The milk was expired.
They should only sell items that are not expired. I shouldn’t have to check the date.
If you “shouldn’t have to check it,” that’s a sure-fire sign to double-check it.
Assumptions can defeat any project, no matter how big or small, if one proceeds on assumptions. And blaming an error on someone else provides no forgiveness. We each must take our own responsibility in verifying, confirming, and continually checking that whatever “IT” is, is done right. If assumptions don’t defeat a project, just give them some time, because eventually, they will. Believing that everything is going well because the same people have successfully been working on a particular project for weeks, for example, is like adding a second floor without an inspector. No one would want to trust that a skyscraper was built properly just because the same people worked on it from start to finish and appeared to be doing it right – someone must continually and methodically check the progress each step of the way. And that someone must separately and personally verify the process – just asking if X was done is in no way the same as one’s personal observation of X. Fortunately, when it comes to the construction industry, the law requires that a inspector follow his “checklist” to help prevent disasters from happening. Unfortunately, neither checklists themselves nor the law can make certain that procedures are followed, or that assumptions won’t occur – as we’ve seen in two horrifying recent examples with the collapse of a school building in Haiti and the collapse of a bridge in Minnesota in the US.
When it comes to Resolution Research and the projects we conduct, our checklists are long and our personal observations and inquiries are ongoing and frequent. Of course, assumptions will still be made, but I commit to do everything possible to ensure that my staff and I always validate and authenticate to the highest degree possible. Assumptions are the bane of my existence – I try to avoid them like the plague.
Nina Nichols,
President & Owner
Resolution Research & Marketing, Inc.®