Speaker City

Assumption gets a bad rap. When people talk about assumption, they usually recount a story where they assumed something and it turned out to haunt them. What about when assumption goes right?

As a manager, you can assume your employees are intelligent and want to do the right thing or you can assume they must be watched and monitored for the slightest error. For example, take the process of business travel and expenses. You can either have some general guidelines in place and assume employees will adhere to them and make exceptions where appropriate. Alternatively, you can assume every employee must be watched and require them to account for every penny spent. Furthermore, if they deviate from the policy you assume they were exploiting the system and make it very difficult for them to get reimbursed.

In the time of crisis the government usually allocates special funds to help those in need. The government can make one of two assumptions. They can assume those in need will use the funds wisely. Doing this means the funds can be distributed quickly to those most in need. Conversely, the government can assume people will misuse the funds appropriated. In an effort to prevent this they can require a long qualification process to receive grants, thus increasing the time it takes to help those in need.

Ultimately, you are always making an assumption. What type of assumption you make a personal choice. Now, what do you want people to assume about you and your actions?

Assumption gets a bad rap. When people talk about assumption, they usually recount a story where they assumed something and it turned out to haunt them. What about when assumption goes right?

As a manager, you can assume your employees are intelligent and want to do the right thing or you can assume they must be watched and monitored for the slightest error. For example, take the process of business travel and expenses. You can either have some general guidelines in place and assume employees will adhere to them and make exceptions where appropriate. Alternatively, you can assume every employee must be watched and require them to account for every penny spent. Furthermore, if they deviate from the policy you assume they were exploiting the system and make it very difficult for them to get reimbursed.

In the time of crisis the government usually allocates special funds to help those in need. The government can make one of two assumptions. They can assume those in need will use the funds wisely. Doing this means the funds can be distributed quickly to those most in need. Conversely, the government can assume people will misuse the funds appropriated. In an effort to prevent this they can require a long qualification process to receive grants, thus increasing the time it takes to help those in need.

Ultimately, you are always making an assumption. What type of assumption you make a personal choice. Now, what do you want people to assume about you and your actions?