Coaching practices for Big Assumption Testing Kegan

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

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

  • I can name the deep fear that keeps me stuck
  • 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
  • My whole plan quietly rests on a handful of things I’ve just taken for granted

Practices that may help

  1. 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
  2. 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
  3. Separate facts from assumptions explicitly
    Sort what you actually know from what you’re assuming, in two visible columns.
    First-Principles Thinking, Made Usable
  4. 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
  5. 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
  6. Conduct a subject-object audit
    Identify what is currently running you without your awareness versus what you can observe and question.
    Kegan’s Subject-Object Theory, Made Practical
  7. 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
  8. Make bold predictions — then check them
    State a specific, testable prediction about the future and record it before you see the outcome.
    Falsification Thinking
  9. Surface and test underlying assumptions
    Identify the implicit assumptions that your reasoning depends on and test whether they hold.
    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

Related concerns

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