Is It Time for a Fresh Look at Your Assumptions?
I don't know about you, but I bet you're not that different than me. I regularly find myself surprised by divergent opinions about things that I assumed everyone would be on board with. Just yesterday in a staff retreat virtually everyone at my table saw an idea from a completely different perspective than my senior pastor and me. This morning I had an engaging conversation with a reader who sees the question in yesterday's post through a much different lens than I do.
Can you relate?
Perspective, point of view, and underlying assumptions all play such a key role in how we see the world; in how we see everything.
This morning I was reminded again how important it is that we regularly take a fresh look at our assumptions. And when I think about assumptions, I always think about a challenging and scary set of findings in a study done by authors Matthew S. Olson, Derek van Bever, and Seth Verry (reported in When Growth Stalls, a really helpful article over at HBR).
Their most scary finding?
Assumptions that a team has held the longest or the most deeply are the most likely to be its undoing.
Their most challenging finding?
(In order to avoid a growth stall) Leaders must bring the underlying assumptions that drive company strategy into line with the changes in the external environment.
My takeaway:
It will always be a good idea to spend some quality time unearthing the assumptions that form the foundation of your ministry. I've written about this many times. Here are some of the articles:
- 5 Assumptions That Stunt Small Group Ministry Growth
- 7 Assumptions That Shape My Small Group Strategy
- Ready to Go on an Assumption Hunt? (Great idea on how to do it from Gary Hamel).
- The Danger of Unexamined Assumptions
- Is It Time to Change Your Strategy
- Andy Stanley on Assumptions
- Testing Long-Held Assumptions
What do you think? Have a question? Want to argue? You can click here to jump into the conversation.
