Assumptions

"With the coming of the computer this [need to go and see in person] will become even more important, for the decision-maker will, in all likelihood, be even further removed from the scene of action. Unless he accepts, as a matter of course, that he had better go out and look at the scene of action, he will be increasingly divorced from reality. All a computer can handle are abstractions. And abstractions can be relied on only if they are constantly checked against the concrete. Otherwise, they are certain to mislead us.

“To go and look for oneself is also the best, if not the only, way to test whether the assumptions on which a decision has been made are still valid or whether they are becoming obsolete and need to be thought through again. And on always has to expect the assumptions to become obsolete sooner or later. Reality never stands still very long.”— The Essential Drucker, page 251

<idle musing>
Reality is moving faster than ever, necessitating checking assumptions even more frequently than ever before. The willingness to check assumptions isn't a natural ability or desire; we like to think that what we've figured out once is set in stone. It isn't!

If we are alive, then we need to be open to learning something new, revising what we thought we knew, reexamining our assumptions—in other words, growing. I praise God that he doesn't let me sit in the same spot I was yesterday. I pray that he keeps me open and receptive to new ideas and fresh thoughts as long as I live. I want to keep learning—and applying what I learn. Head knowledge in and of itself is, how does Paul say it? Oh yeah, σκύβαλα—garbage, dung, worthless refuse, the stuff we throw away and haul off to the landfills.
</idle musing>