“A” Is for Assume Nothing
If you consider yourself a leader at any level of your organiza-
tion, one of the most valuable activities you can engage in is
conversation about the assumptions that underlie the structures
and flow of information within that organization, the assump-
tions that drive all strategies, planning, and decision making
activities.
—Glenna Gerard, author of Dialogue
(John Wiley & Sons 1998)Assume nothing. Zero. Bupkus. Zen mind, beginner’s mind. This
is a touchy subject when it comes to professional investors. We
tend to pride ourselves on our knowledge. In fact, in my experi-
ence, working with lots of different groups and people from all
walks of life, investors may be the world-class know-it-alls. Yes,
lawyers and doctors are in the race as well, but professional inves-
tors just may take the prize in this area. Painful, self-effacing
modesty is not a personal demon that we wrestle with. Personality
type explains some of our confidence. All of these professions are
loaded with STJ personalities. (STJs are notorious for having the
right answers, as the study cited in Chapter 5 indicated.)
In the case of investors, though, much of our self-assurance
comes from training. Training? Yes. Investors are trained to spot
a pig in a poke, to sniff out the bogus deal, to reveal that the little161
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