Don't assume - ask. The strongest opposite of knowledge is not ignorance

My friends and I watched the fourth round of the Swedish Melodifestivalen, where Axel Schylström performed the song Gorgeous. The central message of the song was how Axel himself learned to love his body image again after he had climbed on the roof of a train when he was young and severely burned 70 % of his skin surface in an electric shock. One of my friends commented that he doesn't understand why they had to climb up there on the roof of the train in the first place to represent the foolishness of youth. My other friend looked at him for a long time and replied that "maybe his intention was not to survive".

My first friend did the background story without knowing the assumption (same as myself) that the train's roof had been climbed due to the need to present. The other, on the other hand, understood that there could be more to the story. A silence followed, in which me and my first friend indulged in mild self-reflection in our shame.

The worst enemy of knowledge is assumption. Uncertainty opens up the possibility of searching for knowledge and 'truth', the assumption creates the illusion that we already know, and therefore there is no need to find out. Assumptions also blind us to the world around us, and at the same time, for example, to the root causes of problems.

Yes, we know what customers want from us.

Yes, we would change, but the resistance to change is too great when people don't want to change.

This model and method of operation certainly works in everyone's everyday life.

Our management knows with certainty what those working in the customer interface need.

Every organization and job has its own assumptions. Often the assumptions also make our work more efficient and are often completely correct. However, this is not always the case. In one of the customer service trainings, the participant said that in telephone customer service, he often assumes from the customer's first sentences that he knows what the problem is - he solves the same problems every day. Stopping moments are when the customer interrupts his instructions by saying, hey, that's not what it's about at all, I didn't want that. Then let's go back to the starting screen to find out what the real problem was.

The key tool for the coach, manager and each of us to access information are five questions:

Why?

What?

How?

When?

Where?

When we dare to repeat these enough, we get to the root causes and stories that would remain unexplained and unheard if we assume we already know. These questions are MTTC's most important tools. We don't have all-knowing gurus who come to bring outside wisdom, but curious people who really want to understand, and thereby help bring out possible solutions.

As a coach, I often have to fight against my own assumptions, and at the same time try to get my clients to face theirs. Revealing assumptions and searching for real information is therefore an absolute part of every development project that aims for real change.

Change can only be started from where we really are - not from where we assume we are.

You can change what really is, not what is supposed to be.

Working practices are obtained from those that actually work in that environment, and not from those that are assumed to work.

If you want to know and solve what really needs to be solved, invite us to ask Why? What? How? When? Where?

Johanna Vilkuna

More than a trainer.

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