The Power of Unspoken Assumptions

AirBnB has more hotel rooms than any hotel in the world but doesn’t own one room. UberX is now the world’s biggest taxi business but doesn’t own one taxi.

Quite often, one of the things that restricts our growth is what I call ‘unspoken assumptions’. Unspoken assumptions assume everything must follow a logical order or sequence and if it doesn’t, then its wrong. But who created that logic in the first place? And why can’t it be challenged?

You see it all the time in Financial Planning.

Usually the biggest unspoken assumption is that something is ‘missing’. But what if the thing you think is missing is actually a blessing? E.g. the fact that AirBnB and Uber don’t own any motel rooms or taxis and has enabled them to grow much bigger businesses.

The problem with unspoken assumptions is they are so ingrained, it is assumed nothing can be done to overcome them, so they’re not even mentioned or ‘brought-up’.

The great thing about unspoken assumptions is they often contain the very answer we are looking for.

You know those solutions when you think, “Gee’s why didn’t I think of that?” Like UberX of AirBnB.

The funny thing about UberX is that it’s just legal hitchhiking. It’s not really anything new. We’ve just gone retrograde 30 years.

However, you don’t have to be a big corporate to make a motza out of unspoken assumptions. The opportunities are available to all of us.

Here are some other examples…
Instead of buying a house to renovate, why not renovate other people’s houses just before they sell and share the profits? I know a bloke who renovated 36 houses in one year without buying one property or picking up one tool. Made a fortune. Solution – remove the assumption

Instead of buying a plane to build an airline, why not build the airline first? When Richard Branson started Virgin he borrowed the planes on consignment from Boeing on the proviso he could return them if the business didn’t work. Solution – reverse the assumption

Instead of using lots of words to write a book, why not restrict the number of words you can use? Dr Seuss wrote Green Eggs and Ham using a maximum of fifty different words and sold 200 million copies! (Imagine a Moowsletter like that!) Solution – restrict the assumption

Unlocking unspoken assumptions can be very powerful. You just need to uncover them. I’ll guarantee there is at least one sitting in front of you right now. Can you see it?

Have a great weekend!

Adam

Back paddock – I saw the forecast for this Sunday and it’s supposed to be 35 degree’s so I’m going to make this really yummy prawn and mango salad I got off Mum at Christmas. Thought you might like it. It’s damn good!

Ingredients
4 handfuls mixed lettuce leaves
2 mangoes, cut into cubes
½ red onion
20 cooked prawns, peeled and deveined
2 avocadoes, cut into cubes
1 handful coriander leaves, chopped
1 long red chilli, chopped (optional)

Dressing
2 tbsp white balsamic vinegar
6 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp honey
½ tbsp wholegrain mustard

Pear and cucumber can be used to bulk up the salad plus a serving of watermelon on the side!