How do you avoid assumptions in CPS?

1 Identify your assumptions

To avoid assumptions, you must be aware of them. Assumptions are beliefs or opinions that you take for granted without verifying or questioning, and can be based on your personal experience, background, culture, values, or biases. To identify your assumptions, ask yourself questions such as what do you already know or think about the problem? What do you expect to happen or see? What do you assume to be true or false? And what do you overlook or ignore? Through this process, you can uncover any hidden assumptions that may influence your problem definition, data collection, analysis, and evaluation.

2 Challenge your assumptions

The second step to avoid assumptions is to challenge them. To do this, you must test their validity, accuracy, and relevance. You can challenge your assumptions by asking for feedback from those with different perspectives or experiences, seeking evidence that supports or contradicts your assumptions, applying different frameworks or models to view the problem from different angles, or conducting experiments or simulations to observe the effects of your assumptions. By taking these steps, you can refine, modify, or discard your assumptions based on the evidence and logic.

3 Avoid jumping to conclusions

To avoid assumptions, the third step is to prevent jumping to conclusions. This means making decisions or judgments based on incomplete or inaccurate information, which can be caused by confirmation bias, overconfidence, or emotional reasoning. To prevent this, you can ask open-ended questions that invite exploration and clarification, seek multiple sources of information and opinions, consider alternative explanations or scenarios, evaluate the pros and cons of each option, and review your conclusions for errors or gaps. This way, you can guarantee that your solutions are based on sound reasoning and evidence.

4 Embrace uncertainty and ambiguity

The fourth step to avoid assumptions is to embrace uncertainty and ambiguity. This means that there are unknowns or unclear aspects of the problem or solution, which can be sources of stress, anxiety, or frustration. However, they can also be opportunities for creativity, learning, and innovation. To make the most of this situation, one should adopt a mindset that accepts that there is no one right answer or perfect solution, welcomes new information and feedback that can change your assumptions, explores multiple possibilities and options without committing too early, adapts and adjusts your solutions as the situation evolves, and learns from failures and mistakes. By doing so, you can avoid assumptions that limit your potential and flexibility.

5 Communicate clearly and respectfully

The fifth step to avoid assumptions is to communicate clearly and respectfully. Communication is essential for CPS, as it involves sharing ideas, listening to others, collaborating, and presenting solutions. Unfortunately, assumptions can lead to misunderstandings, conflicts, or errors. To communicate effectively, use simple and precise language that avoids jargon or ambiguity. Additionally, check for understanding and clarify any doubts or confusion. Respect different opinions and perspectives by acknowledging them and giving and receiving constructive feedback. Visual aids or examples can also help illustrate your points. By communicating clearly and respectfully, you can avoid assumptions that hinder your communication and collaboration.

6 Keep learning and improving

The sixth step to avoid assumptions is to continuously learn and improve. This means you should be open to new knowledge, skills, and experiences that can enhance your CPS. Additionally, you should reflect on your performance, identify your strengths and weaknesses, and seek ways to improve. To keep learning and improving, you can practice habits such as reading or listening to relevant sources of information, taking courses or workshops that can teach you new CPS tools or methods, seeking mentors or peers who can support your learning and development, setting goals and measuring your progress and results, and celebrating your achievements. Through this process of continual learning and improvement, you can ensure that assumptions don't prevent your growth and development.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?