Naiman Labs Newsletter #42. To ask or not to ask

There is a traveling salesman, who git his tire flat in the middle of the road. There’s no one around, he is travelling alone. And he remembers that he saw a gas station a mile away.

As he walks towards a gas station, he starts a conversation with himself:

"How much can he charge me for renting a jack?"

"One dollar, maybe two.”

“But it's the middle of the night, so maybe there's an after-hours fee.”

“Probably another five dollars.”

“If he's anything like my brother-in-law, he'll figure I got no place else to go for the jack, so he's cornered the market and has me at his mercy. Ten dollars more.”

As he walks and thinks, the price and the anger keep rising.

“What if I had to take a loan for this jack and have nowhere else to go? I need to get out of this place.”

“If I take the loan, I will be in debt, and my family will struggle. Stupid jack.”

Finally, he gets to the service station and is greeted cheerfully by the owner:

"What can I do for you, sir?"

"You got the nerve to talk to me, you robber," the salesman says. "You can take your stinkin' jack and shove it up your a**!”

Welcome to another post of Naiman Labs Newsletter!

I am sure you have heard this story and if you’re something like me you probably relive this story in your head almost every day.

Living without assumptions is practically impossible. We're always caught up in our thoughts and perspectives, making it easy to follow our biases and jump to quick conclusions without gathering additional information.

Some time ago, during our company’s sales training, our sales leader shared a catchy phrase that has stuck with me ever since:

Simple DFA Rule: Don’t. F*cking. Assume.

Ask instead. Don’t assume if your client considers your offer too expensive - clarify their budget and how much they are willing to spend, or what exactly they consider expensive.

We encounter this problem daily, quick to assume based on our own perspectives and biases. Hence, the importance of discovery.

Discovery is crucial in all aspects of our lives, especially for professionals in product development and consulting. That’s why I consistently conduct surveys, discovery interviews, and focus groups with my team members to understand their perspectives when introducing initiatives and changes. It's essential to avoid HR professionals relying solely on their perspectives and common handbooks and benchmarks.

The DFA rule isn't limited to client interactions or project implementations. It works wonders in simple interpersonal relations.

We never truly know what others think. We can only assume or ask them directly. Knowing the risks of assuming, it's always better to ask.

Let’s keep this e-mail short today. Enjoy your upcoming week and DFA 😎

Vlad from Naiman Labs