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Some leadership decisions are based on data. Some are based on experience. And some are based on something somebody said in a meeting four years ago that has now somehow become organisational fact. In this episode of Leadruption, Emma Last explores Assumptocracy, the system where assumptions get repeated so confidently that nobody can quite remember whether they were ever true in the first place.
In this episode, we explore:
- What Assumptocracy is, and how phrases like “everyone knows”, “they always” and “that would never work” can start carrying more weight than actual evidence.
- How assumptions gain authority over time, until “someone once said” quietly turns into “that’s just how things are here”.
- The difference between knowledge, experience, and interpretation, and why experience matters without making us infallible.
- Why leaders need to ask what is evidence, what is interpretation, what is inherited belief, and what may no longer be true.
- One of the simplest and most useful leadership questions: “How do we know?”
Assumptions are efficient.
They save us from having to ask, check or gather evidence.
The slight problem is they can also save us from discovering we were completely wrong. Pasted markdown
So today, listen out for the phrases:
“Obviously…”
“Everyone knows…”
“They always…”
“They never…”
And ask:
Is this something we know, or something we have said so many times that it now feels like knowledge?
Because informed leadership is not about doubting everything.
It is about knowing which things are worth checking.
Want more Leadruption?
Come and join Emma in Leadruption PodChat to continue the conversation and discover more words and ideas from The Leadruptionary.
You can also explore the Say–Do Gap White Paper and go deeper into how assumptions, decisions, and lived experience can drift apart.
https://emmalast.com/leadruption-podchat
