What are we not seeing?
This week, our first hospital went live.
It’s a huge milestone in one of the big bold projects I’m involved in, in the indoor air quality sector.
It led me to reflect on an idea that goes well beyond the air we breathe.
What are we not seeing?
Our work is focused on helping hospitals address airborne risk through air-treatment technology designed around their existing ventilation systems. You can find out more about the project at Safe Air for Hospitals.
For me, getting our first hospital live is an opportunity to pause and recognise progress. A Big Bold Idea has moved into practice.
It’s also a reminder of why we need to keep questioning what we take for granted.
Air is something we’re surrounded by all day. Yet how often do we stop to think about it?
There’s a parallel with the assumptions we carry into our work. They shape our decisions every day, often without us noticing.
What we believe is possible. How we think something has to be done. Which problems we’ve come to accept as part of life.
A coaching session for myself this week brought that home in a different way.
I need people who can see things I can’t. People who bring fresh ideas, question my reasoning and help me recognise when I’m relying on an assumption that deserves another look.
One of the core fundamentals of the Big Bold Mindset® is to challenge our assumptions.
Including our own.
That last part is easy to agree with and harder to practise.
We build up experience. We learn what works. We develop ways of thinking that help us make decisions and get things done.
Then the world changes, and we can find ourselves reaching for the same familiar answers without checking whether they still fit.
We can’t navigate a new world using only the charts that helped us through the old one.
That’s why having people who will point out our blind spots matters so much. They might be a coach, a colleague, a customer or someone approaching the problem with none of our experience—and none of our assumptions.
But we have to give them room to challenge us.
When someone offers a different perspective, how quickly do we explain why it won’t work? How often do we say, “We’ve tried that before,” without asking what might have changed since then?
I’m taking two things from this week: the satisfaction of seeing a big bold project take a real step forward, and a personal reminder to stay open to what I haven’t yet seen.
What assumption in your work deserves a fresh look—and who could help you question it?
Let’s get practical - here’s three ideas to experiment with on this theme:
2 minutes. Question an assumption
Think of something in your work where you’ve caught yourself saying, “That’s just how it works.”
Ask yourself - What am I assuming here? And is it still true?
5 minutes. Borrow someone else’s eyes
Share a challenge with someone who sees things differently from you.
Ask: “What might I be missing?”
Listen. Resist the urge to explain why their idea won’t work.
What have they noticed that you hadn’t?
15 minutes. Put it to the test
Choose one assumption you’re now less certain about.
Ask: “What small experiment would help me find out?”
A different approach? A conversation with a customer? Trying something you previously ruled out?
Take the first step this week and see what you learn.
SERVICES I OFFER: