February 08, 2010

Know More, Assume Less


"Get the facts or the facts will get you."

Dr. Thomas Fuller
17th century English Physician


And note well the difference between facts and assumed facts.

Most decisions are based on the latter, less on the former.


5 comments :

  1. You're right. A lot of my employees who come to me to explain why something didn't go as planned, start by saying "I thought . . ."

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  2. As one who has made a career out of generating and selling data, I can say that the biggest obstacle I had to overcome when making a sale, was a belief on the part of the client that they did not need my data because they already knew the answers. Sometimes they were right, often they weren't.

    You don't need to check every assumed fact but you should validate those where the consequences of acting on incorrect data will be severe.

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  3. I know I know more than most other people I know.

    A problem??

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  4. Not as long as you know when you don't.

    Do you?

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  5. I wonder if those who work with Anonymous would agree with his/her opinion of him/herself???

    ReplyDelete