Don't Make Assumptions

The office was in shock as they heard the news. John was dead, or so they heard. It had been a couple of years since their old colleague moved on to a different career path, but they remembered their long time working together. 

John wasn’t old. How could he have gone away so soon? Was he sick? Did his drinking habits eventually get the most out of him? 

The news of the tragic event had come from Gerald. Gerald’s father had worked with John before and was the first to hear the news that John was dead. 

But which John was it? 

Gerald’s father never asked. The first John that came to his mind was the John he had worked with most recently. Not the John that he served with as a firefighter who had then truly passed away. 

When the John who was presumed to be dead found out that rumors were spreading regarding his alleged passing, he decided to pay them a visit. He was curious to find out why everyone thought he was dead! 

John drove to his old office where he spent a big part of his career to find out what was going on. So you can imagine the state of awe and laughter when his old colleagues saw him with their own eyes as proof that the John they originally heard about was a completely different John! 

It is a sad anecdote at the expense of someone’s loss. But I couldn’t help but wonder, how often do we act on pure assumptions and speculations? 

We don’t ask questions to clarify what we need to do, and we are left aimless. 

In talking with a family member who was making decisions about his business, he stated, “I don’t want to make changes because I may have legal problems.” I couldn’t help myself but to ask, “Have you asked a lawyer about it?” To which he stated “no.” His limitations were purely based on assumptions and not facts. 

Perhaps you may reach the same conclusions, but wouldn’t you say it is wiser to ask questions and reach conclusions based on facts? 

As the great detective Sherlock Holmes once said, “It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly, one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.”