I recently completed 2 weeks of jury service and its an interesting and fascinating experience. Obviously I cant tell you about specific cases but I do have some thoughts on the process of being part of a jury.

In my first week, I was the foreman of our jury and that meant facilitating the discussion and making sure everyone could express their point of view and that we all agreed on our verdict.

During the course of our deliberations a number of things became apparent.

Many people have prejudices that they dont realise they have.

Many people assume their view of the world is the right view

Many people dont really understand the influence they have on other people directly or indirectly.

It was quite scary how some individuals were convinced of the defendants guilt purely based on a perception of who they thought they were. Whole scenarios, stories and pictures were being created about what probably happened, what they probably did, said and behaved like and what that type of person is like.

When I pointed out that we must only base our decisions on the facts as presented to us and the law as directed by the judge, some people saw they were making up evidence based on their assumptions and perceptions but others got quite irritated and couldnt see that what they were basing their views on was pure speculation, assumption and prejudice.

This got me thinking that we all make assumptions at times, which are often only based on our view of the world. This is usually not done with mal intent or consciously but purely because we se the world in our own way based on our own experience through life.

However, the danger in doing this is that it can prevent us being fair, just and seeing beyond our own experiences. We might therefore miss opportunities, be blind to different perspectives and not take a balanced view.

Have you ever assumed?

* Big companies only work with big consulting firms

* Price is the most important thing

* It didnt work before therefore it wont work this time

* I dont have time for planning

* Customers only want one thing a deal!

* Business is a numbers game so I need to meet laods of new people

There are more Im sure and I urge you to recheck your assumptions of your clients, your business and your everyday dealings with people. Are you being fair and just based on the facts and evidence presented or are you making it up?