‘Never assume, because when you assume, you make an ‘ass’ of U and ME.” — Felix Unger
Our brains seek shortcuts to get us through life. This requires making assumptions – some good, some bad, and some blatantly wrong.
It is easy to form opinions about others even when we know little or nothing about them directly.
A leader I respect invited me to join her strategy team. Everyone in the team had done great stuff. We introduced ourselves in a virtual meeting and I realised immediately that my introduction needed some work.
People sprinkled achievements in their introductions like salt bae.

Some people are better at introductions than others. They have good communication skills and have perfected their elevator pitches. Some lack charisma and don’t know how to talk about themselves, while some take the humble approach, waiting to hear what everyone else says. After that meeting, I paid a bit more attention to how I introduced myself. I was ready for the next opportunity.
A few weeks later, I met a lady in Abuja who worked as a producer in the film industry. We had a good conversation about the industry and also talked about the UK weather (because I said I live in the UK) and why I kinda like life outside of London.
About an hour after this discussion, she ‘revealed’ that her entire family lives in London, she has a day job as a TV presenter on national television, and she graduated from the University of Oxford.
You should have said that at the beginning! I screamed in my head.
Some people are like that… they wait for you and then boom! 😀😀
Like the strategy group, we had someone who was on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list. I’ve made a couple of lists, but I didn’t bother mentioning them. LOL – not that it mattered. We formed opinions about each other through our interactions but I was wrong about one of us when we met in real life. This person is fun to be with and different from what seemed a snobbish attitude online.
I had a line manager who assumed I was a troublemaker because I ‘sounded intelligent’ during our first meeting. In his experience, people like that are troublesome and difficult to work with. Therefore, he planned to ‘deal’ with me and put me in my place… and he did but he was wrong about me. He realised it later.
The Bible says it like this:
Ecclesiastes 10:13 Fools base their thoughts on foolish assumptions, so their conclusions will be wicked madness;
We all make assumptions about others but it is wise to get to know people better. It will help you avoid or at least minimise errors in judgement.
Have you made assumptions about someone that turned out to be very wrong? Share your experience in the comments.
1 thought on “He thinks I’m a troublemaker”
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