Write the biography of your big assumption

Trace when and how the assumption first took hold, and ask whether it still fits the person you are now.

Por qué funciona

Kegan and Lahey invite people to become "biographers" of their big assumptions: how and when the assumption first took hold, how long it has been around, and its turning points. They report that this usually leads to earlier life experiences, before the current job and relationships, and that seeing the assumption was formed for another time and place makes its foundations look less solid. The history does not disprove the assumption; it loosens its claim to be simply how things are.

Cómo hacerlo

1. Write the assumption at the top of a page.
2. Answer: "When do I first remember believing this? What was happening in my life then?"
3. Note two or three turning points — times it was reinforced, or times it was briefly challenged.
4. Finish with: "What was this assumption protecting me from then, and is my situation now the same?"

Evidencia

"Explore the history" is step 3 of the five-step process in Kegan and Lahey’s 2001 HBR article, which describes examples such as a CEO who recognized she was applying a self-protective stance formed during a difficult divorce years earlier. The evidence is the authors’ case experience; no study has tested this step on its own. (anecdotal)

Tracing an assumption back can bring up painful early memories. The aim is perspective, not reliving them; if it opens something heavy, slow down and get support.

Fuentes

• Kegan, R., & Lahey, L. L. (2001). The Real Reason People Won’t Change. Harvard Business Review, 79(10), 84–92.

Error común

Treating the origin story as proof the assumption is false, or as the end of the work. Understanding where it came from frees you to question it; the testing still has to happen.