As a business manager, do you make assumptions at times?

The following story should bring a smile to your face and help you become a better manager.

A store manager overheard one of his salesmen talking to a customer. "No sir" said the salesman.” We haven't had any for awhile and it doesn't look like we'll be getting any soon."

The store manager was horrified and yelled after the departing customer,” Come back next week. We’re sure to have whatever it is you need." The store manager then turned to his salesman,” Never tell a customer we're out of anything! Now, what did he want?"

"Rain,” answered the salesman.

Would today be a good day to start asking more questions before making assumptions?

How many assumptions do you make each day?

By assumptions, I mean guesses, notions or ideas about how something is going to turn out before you even take action.

The challenge isn’t in the assumptions, it is in the guess that things will turn out bad.

As humans we have a tendency to assume that something will end up being bad, negative or wrong. Why is that? I am sure there is a lot of reasons or excuses but let me look at this from a solution based answer.

It is my belief that when we think negatively we are predicting the future in negative terms. A question; when was the last time you were able to chose a lottery number and win millions of dollars? It hasn’t happened very often for you, has it?

So my suggestion would be to quit trying to predict the future, live the moment and accept the result, but then learn from the result and try again. Look at all the possibilities that you have to gain.

What can you do today that will cause you to focus on the possibilities that life offers?