As Head of Trend and Innovation Scouting at Nokia, Leslie Shannon’s job is to identify connectivity-related tech disruptions and opportunities, including developments in robotics, drones, visual analytics, cloud gaming, generative AI. In a way she is an in-house futurist.
But when I asked her to describe what she does she said: “I need to constantly be questioning my assumptions.”
To her, the most important part of the job is not to understand all the new technologies emerging, but to have the skill to revise her assumptions around what the future of the world will look like.
She told me that she constantly evaluates her assumptions, and every six months she sits down for a major overhaul of her fundamental assumptions.
The skill of reviewing one’s assumptions is as valuable as it is rare.
To have the guts to re-evaluate one’s world view based on new information, to dare to say out-loud that you were wrong, takes honesty and humility.
Let’s call this skill “The art of disassuming”.
To assume is to think: “This is what I think, based on what I know.”
To disassume is to think: “This might be where I have to change my mind based on what I recently learned”
To disassume is a made up word, but it’s a word we need, because the practice of disassumption is a skill we need.
We especially need this art when we are successful.
In the words of Leslie Shannon: “Success cements assumptions, and assumptions breed blindness.”
It’s so easy to think you know how to do something when you have been successful doing just that.
But the world changes, and what used to be right can now be wrong. (Leslie works for Nokia after all, a company that learnt that the hard way.)
As a futurist in the fast changing world of digital communication, Leslie is a pro at disassuming. I asked her to share with me some techniques we can use to make sure that our wrong assumptions don’t blind us.
She said: “We need to constantly rethink the stories we tell ourselves. We need to stop, pause, take a step back and question your assumptions. An assumption, after all, is a thing that is accepted as true or as certain to happen – without proof.”
Leslie stresses that disassuming is a deliberate act, something you decide to do.
She also gave us three insights on how to develop an effective disassuming mindset.
1) Open
Leslie: “The trick is to be constantly open, to be consciously open and to be purposely open.”
Open-mindedness is the anti-dote to getting stuck in outdated assumptions.
2) Uncomfortable
Leslie: “When you find something that makes you uncomfortable, lean into it. Follow the uncomfortable – it probably means that the thing that is making you uncomfortable is challenging your assumptions.”
Leslie shared how, when she was studying new Generative AI trends, first assumed that the power of the AI would be in the cloud and that it would be great for network operators like Nokia, so when people started talking about the possibilities of Gen AI being run locally on a phone her first reaction was to dismiss it. But that uncomfortable feeling pushed her to re-assess her views on how Generative AI might be serviced in the future.
3) Memory
Leslie: “Remember what you said. In order to be able to reevaluate your assumptions you need to be able to compare the new assumptions to the old. To just talk about the newest, latest thing is easy. To compare your old thought with your new is harder – but also more valuable. The future is not a point, it’s a vector.”
Leslie is bubbling with positive energy when we talk, and I get a sense that the ability to challenge your own assumptions is not just a recipe for success, but also a recipe for happiness.
Her final words to me are profound: “What makes the practice of disassuming so difficult is that our assumptions often become a key part of our identity. Whenever you find yourself thinking, “I’m a person who always/never . . .” – what follows isn’t actually who you are, it’s an assumption. “I’m a person who never eats mangoes,” or “I’m a person who always votes for this political party,” or “I’m a person who will work at this employer for the rest of my career,” are all examples of assumptions that can keep you from seeing new possibilities, both in yourself and in the world around you. Yet these kinds of identity assumptions and the consequent blindness that they create are the most difficult to conquer because we feel that the very core of who we are is threatened if we question them.
You have to ask yourself, “Will who I truly am vanish in some way if I eat a mango?” or “Will who I truly am vanish in some way if I’m made redundant?” The answer is almost always no, and you may find that mangoes are delicious and your next job is far better than your last one. But you won’t know until you disassume even the things that seem most central to who you “are”.”
A disassuming mind is in a conscious state of constantly questioning how one looks at the world in order to change as soon as that is the right thing to do.
We should be disassuming more often.
What assumptions could you get rid of if you actively engage in the act of disassuming?
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