NO DOUBT

"Deep doubts, deep wisdom; small doubts, little wisdom."

Chinese proverb

Assume that you are certain of, be little, that you must become certain of, great.

The reverse will only disappoint.

I KNOW I'M NOT WRONG ABOUT THIS

"There are few people who are more often in the wrong than those who cannot endure to be so."

François de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French writer.

You don't have to assume you're wrong to avoid this fate, just don't automatically assume you're right.

THE LIMITS OF PERSONAL CONFIDENCE

"It is a bad plan that admits of no modification."

Publilius Syrus (1st Century BC) Roman writer and poet.

Being sure of yourself is a good thing.

Just not as much as being willing to verify what you believe to be true, actually is.

Not all of it will be.

THE SELF FULFILLING PROPHECY OF PESSIMISSIM

"A misty morning does not always signify a cloudy day."

Proverb

Things may actually be as bad as they initially seem, but shouldn't you first verify they are before acting as though they are?

DO YOU REALLY KNOW WHAT YOU THINK YOU REALLY KNOW?

"A speculator is a man who observes the future, and acts before it occurs."

Bernard M. Baruch (1870-1965) American financier/political consultant.

I don't have a problem with this when it comes to investing.

It's when the speculation is about another person that things can get out of hand.

Make sure your facts are facts before you pass judgement on others.

NOT WHAT YOU KNOW TO BE TRUE, WHAT YOU PROVE TO BE TRUE

"In thinking, if a person begins with certainties, they shall end in doubts, but if they can begin with doubts, they will end in certainties."

Francis Bacon (1561-1626) British statesman/philosopher.

Excellent basis for planning.

In the beginning, accept nothing as truth, test all assumptions moving to rather than starting at conclusions.

Do that and your plan will be more based on truth than not.

(WHAT IF?) IT JUST DOESN'T FEEL RIGHT

"There is something in omens."

Ovid (BC 43-AD 18) Roman poet

I suspect we are more likely to believe this in our everyday rather than our business lives.

But should we?

What role, if any, should omens (hunches, intuition, etc.) play in our business decisions?

I CERTAINLY KNOW WHAT I ASSUME

"He is poor indeed that can promise nothing."

Thomas Fuller

17th century British clergyman/author

Planning is about the future, little more than assumptions regarding what may happen.

You always end up assuming more than you know.

You can't promise to know but you can promise the most accurate assumptions.

It's Time To Act!

"You don't have to see the whole staircase to take the first step."

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

20th century American preacher/civil rights leader

In fact, continuing metaphorically, you will rarely "see" (understand) the "whole staircase" (all you need to know) before being forced to either "start up it" (take action) or give up and walk away.

What's it going to be?

What You Think Or What You Know?

"What you don't see with your eyes don't witness with your mouth."

Jewish proverb

In business you must separate what you think is true from what you know is true. 

Those who find you doing too much of the latter will soon not trust you to do the former.

The Devil Is The Devil You Don't Know

"For it is not death or hardship that is a fearful thing, but the fear of death and hardship."

Epictetus

1st century Greek philosopher

In business as in our personal lives, we fear what we do not know.

Replace unknowns and assumptions with facts.  Verify, plan, and the right path will become clear, the fear diminished.

The Illusion Of Truth

"Pleasure can be supported by an illusion; but happiness rests upon truth."

Nicholas Chamfort

18th century French writer

How many of your business decisions are based upon illusion versus truth?

How do you know which is which?

The Law Of Averages

"Remember: The average is as close to the bottom as it is to the top."

Unknown

And about as useful as a descriptor as is no descriptor.

Moreover being average today does not mean you will be again tomorrow.

Focus on what YOU are and should be and let "average" take care of itself.

I Have A Vision!

"A hallucination is a fact, not an error; what is erroneous is a judgement based upon it."

Bertrand Russell

20th century British logician

Hallucinations, illusions, unsubstantiated beliefs and the like, have their place in the creative process.

They are a way-station on the road to sound judgement.

Just be certain you consider rather than accept them as fact.

I Wonder

"All wonder is the effect of novelty on ignorance."

Samuel Johnson

18th century British author
photo by Will Koffel
http://will.koffel.org/

A "wonderful" thing already seems identified as good whereas something I wonder about does not necessarily.

It might one day be but until I declare it wonderful . . .

Given all the uncertainty (ignorance) in our business lives, do you employ process to categorize things as wonderful versus those you should wonder about?

Identifying the presence or absence of novelty relative to what you don't understand may be where you start.

That's pretty wonderful.

In The Beginning

"Even for practical purposes theory generally turns out the most important thing in the end."

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

Late 19th, early 20th century American jurist

And as part of "generally" I will take the liberty of including business.

You must start somewhere and in absence of anything else, a theory is an excellent place to begin.

I Could Have Told You That!

"Ignorance is the night of the mind, but a night without moon or star."

Confucius

5th century BC Chinese philosopher

A situation made even worse when the ignorant believe they see "moon or stars" when no one else does, and act accordingly.

But how do any of us know for sure that the "light" we think we see is truth?

We celebrate business leaders who take the alternative path and succeed, Steve Jobs being but one obvious example.

And we ridicule those who do exactly the same thing and fail, as if we knew all along that they were wrong.

Somewhere in this is the middle ground of speculative judgement we all should seek to find.

On a completely separate subject, to all those who served our country in the past, or who do so today, thank you!  Have a great Veteran's Day!

The REAL Boogie Man

"Imaginary evils soon become real ones by indulging our reflections on them."

John Ruskin

19th century English art critic

The art of business planning is separating real challenges from those we think are real.

How Open A Mind?

"I would rather have a mind opened by wonder than one closed by belief."

Gerry Spence

20th century American trial lawyer

It does not surprise me that a trial lawyer would say this, otherwise, how would one ever get a jury to reverse thinking on an accused, initially presumed by many to be guilty?

However, when it comes to business matters, which is preferable?

The Difference Between Knowing and Assuming

"Not everything which is bad comes to hurt us."

Italian proverb

On the surface, contradictory; if it's bad it will hurt.

But when you add the perception that it is or will be bad, it makes sense.

How much have you not attempted or done simply because you feared the outcome?