Time to spring clean our assumptions!

Reevaluation need not be a reaction to actual or imagined failure but can be a kind of organizational hygiene, a spring cleaning of assumptions.  ~Faisal Hoque with Drake Baer

It is approaching that time of year when we begin to think about spring cleaning.  Living in an urban environment there is another phenomenon that also reminds me spring is just around the corner, and I am desperately in need of those reminders this year. 

In the city, snow is pushed off the sidewalks to the edge of the street and from the street to the edge of the sidewalks.  This mound of snow continuously builds throughout the winter then begins to turn to an icy, mucky mess and finally begins to melt (a sign of spring!).  As it melts, it's fascinating to see what's revealed.  All of the cans, fast food containers, junk mail, etc. people have tossed thinking it would be hidden in the snow.  Along with items that have gotten caught up in the winter winds and of course what's left behind from pets that pet owners believed it was okay not to pick up since it would be buried in the snow.  Yes, it's quite a sight.  All of winter's messes revealed as spring begins to emerge.  All of what we assumed would be out of sight is now exposed.  A sure sign it might be time to spring clean our assumptions.

I think that's how we treat assumptions in organizations.  Because we haven't had a failure, imagined or real, we don't take the time to stop and reevaluate, we don't practice some highly needed organizational hygiene.  We assume we can keep tossing our unwanted items into the snow banks because they will remain hidden.

Assumption means hypothesis, guess, theory, conjecture.  We all like to think that we assume very little because we make decisions based on "fact" and "truth."  The reality is we can never know every facet and variable that might touch a situation, especially today.  We live in a more dynamic world than any time in history; something, or maybe everything, around us is constantly changing. 

We're coming out of decades where leadership success was measured by the ability to create sustainability through stabilization—living in a world of facts and truth.  Leadership success today, however, is and will be measured by the ability to create sustainability through learning and adaptation—constantly questioning our assumptions.

Here's an example in my world of consulting.  Management consulting has been the standard or typical assumed best approach for many years.  This means that an outside consultant comes into the organization, studies it, and then as the outside expert makes specific recommendations to be imposed upon the organization.  I believe that much of management consulting is going to be replaced by business coaching.  This means that the client is now the expert and the coach helps to create a safe but challenging space for both individuals and the organization to move from where they are to where they want to be.  The business coach approach aligns more with a learning and adaptation view of the world, while a management consulting approach aligns more with a world view of facts and truth.

This shift in thinking around how my work is defined was a result of some challenging spring cleaning of my assumptions about both what I do and what organizations really need. 

I love this idea of spring cleaning our assumptions.  It can be applied to our professions, our organizations, our relationships, and even our daily and mundane decisions.  Let the spring cleaning commence!