Доверяй, но проверяй (see below)

"How many legs does a dog have if you call the tail a leg? Four. Calling a tail a leg doesn't make it a leg."

Abraham Lincoln, 16th president of the United States.

Misinformation, disinformation, or fake news in today's parlance, is not new, it's been around as long as people have.

Does it really matter? It does really matter.

Acting on, re-posting, or just claiming something to be true you are not certain is true, suggests you are lazy.

Doing any of those things knowing the basis for your claim is not true, suggests you are a liar.

As President Ronald Reagan repeatedly said, "Trust but verify"

("Trust but verify" is an English translation of the Russian proverb Доверяй, но проверяй taught to Reagan by Suzanne Massie, American author of the book Land of the Firebird: The Beauty of Old Russia, and advisor to President Reagan regarding his negotiations with Mikhail Gorbachev, then President of the Soviet Union.)

BIG SMALL THINGS

"For the person for whom small things do not exist, the great is not great."

José Ortega y Gasset (1883-1955) Spanish essayist/philosopher

I'm not sure it as much a matter of not having as it is not paying attention to small things, details if you will.

You don't at your own risk.

TOO MUCH OF TWO, NOT ENOUGH OF ONE

"Opinion is the medium between knowledge and ignorance."

Plato 

4th century BC Greek philosopher

Of greater importance is that most people can't tell the difference, not for others and certainly not for themselves.

Forget others, just concentrate on you.

Assume more ignorance than knowledge, acting accordingly, and you'll often end with the reverse being true.

DID YOU HEAR WHAT MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE HAPPENED?

"In the case of news, we should always wait for the sacrament of confirmation."

Voltaire

18th  century French writer/historian

Because without confirmation it is what may be rather than what is.

Big difference.

FEARING . . . ?

"Fear always springs from ignorance."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

19th century U.S. poet, essayist, lecturer

Ignorance about things that often never happen.

The next time you are afraid, take time to learn all you can about what you fear.

In many cases you will find it doesn't exist.

But What If They're Right?

"Love your enemies for they tell you your faults."

Benjamin Franklin

18th century American statesman/inventor

Not everything they say about you is true.

Only that which is.

I'll Tell You What I Think

"Opinion is the medium between knowledge and ignorance."

Plato

3rd century BC Greek philosopher

How appropriate towards the end of this political season where once again there is far too much of two of these, not nearly enough of the third.

And don't think this is just confined to politics.  It's not.

Every aspect of our lives is based more on opinion and ignorance than knowledge.

We just don't act as though that were true.

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.

Did You Know . . . ?

"He mastered whatever was not worth the knowing."

James Russell Lowell

19th century American poet/writer

I have considerable knowledge about things not worth knowing.

And you?

Truth Be Told

"The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their right names."

Chinese proverb

While denial is often more comfortable it rarely is long term.

Acknowledge reality, the sooner the better.

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.

An Inconvient Truth, Is True Nevertheless

"Facts don't cease to exist because they are ignored."

Aldous Huxley

20th century British author

If you conduct your business hoping unpleasant realities will simply go away, they likely won't but you soon will.

What Do You Know?

"The learned fool writes his nonsense in better language than the unlearned, but it is still nonsense."

Benjamin Franklin

18th century American statesman

Another exhortation to not confuse education with intelligence, or certainly common sense.

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.

That's Not True, This Is!

"Get your facts first and then you can distort them as much as you please."

Mark Twain

19th century American author/humorist

Which raises an interesting question . . . exactly what is a "fact"?

The Watermelon Test

"When one has tasted it he knows what the angels eat."

Mark Twain

19th century American humorist/author

Mr. Twain was referring to watermelon.

Wouldn't it be great in business if it were as easy to recognize things such as integrity, truth, lies, and potential risk and reward?

Those People

"Prejudices are what fools use for reason."

Voltaire

18th century French writer/philosopher

If you lead others, can you always tell when an argument is prejudicial versus factual?

Because You Should Or Because You Want To?

"We are never deceived, we deceive ourselves."

Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

Late 18th century German poet/novelist

Not allowing myself to get hung up on the absolute of this ("never"), I agree.

In business, we do many things because we want to, maybe more than what we do being certain they are the right things to do.

The trick is to recognize your decisions based on clear fact and logic, from those founded on hope and desire.

A difficult but necessary task for any manager.

What You Know Versus Believe

(Click to enlarge)

"If you correct your mind, the rest of your life will fall into place."

Lao-tzu
6th century founder of Taoism

Much of what you believe is true, certainly including the bad things, is really only what you believe.  And still we all act on those assumptions.

Not good in our personal lives and certainly not in business.  

In both, separate fact from perceived fact.

What You Know Versus What You Think You Know

"Erroneous assumptions can be disastrous."

Peter Drucker

Certainly acting on them can be.

I'm a planning consultant and simply cannot overestimate the number of clients who assume rather than know, way, way too much.

You may build your house of cards but will it withstand the inevitable threats faced by all business?