Coaching practices for Assumption Testing

Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For Assumption Testing, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.

Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?

• My conclusion only makes sense because of a bunch of things I’m silently taking for granted about people and how the world works
• In my head the things I’m sure of and the things I’m just guessing at all run together as one blur, so I end up treating my assumptions like hard limits
• My plan feels solid until I notice it quietly depends on a whole stack of things just going my way
• I can name the deep fear that keeps me stuck
• My conclusion feels airtight and yet something nags at me, and I think it’s that the whole thing only holds if a couple of unspoken things are true

Practices that may help

1. Surface and examine the assumptions you are making
   Name the assumptions filling the gap between the data you selected and the interpretation you reached.
   The Ladder of Inference
2. Separate facts from assumptions explicitly
   Sort what you actually know from what you’re assuming, in two visible columns.
   First-Principles Thinking, Made Usable
3. Name the assumptions that must hold for the plan to work
   Every plan rests on assumptions — list them and ask how likely each one is.
   Margin of Safety
4. Test the big assumption behind your immunity
   Design a small experiment to check whether the assumption keeping you stuck is actually true.
   Kegan’s Subject-Object Theory, Made Practical
5. Surface and test underlying assumptions
   Identify the implicit assumptions that your reasoning depends on and test whether they hold.
   Socratic Questioning
6. Regression-to-mean awareness in JOLs
   Discount your highest-confidence JOLs most — they are the most likely to be inflated.
   Judgments of Learning: Why You Misjudge What You’ve Learned
7. Map and stress-test your key assumptions
   Before executing, list the assumptions the plan depends on — then ask which ones would kill it if wrong.
   Red Teaming: Stress-Testing Plans Before They Fail
8. Attempt to recall before studying new material
   Try to answer questions about material before you’ve studied it — the attempt, even when wrong, enhances retention of the correct answer when it comes.
   The Testing Effect: Why Retrieval Practice Beats Restudying
9. Explore the implications and consequences of a position
   Ask "if that is true, what follows?" to test whether accepting a claim creates downstream problems.
   Socratic Questioning
10. Check whether the rules of your domain are actually stable
    Before applying any probability model, ask whether the rules governing outcomes could change mid-game.
    The Ludic Fallacy: When You Mistake Real Life for a Game

Describe your situation in your own words to search the complete practice library.