Two Accounts Of One Arrangement Never Compared
Divergent accounts expand silently through unexamined assumptions until operational pressure forces a costly comparison during exit negotiations.
assumption audit
Meaning
Systematic review identifies the premises underlying a strategy or relationship. An assumption audit tests the validity of these core beliefs by comparing them against historical data and current market conditions. This process marks the boundary where speculative logic meets verified fact.
Evaluative Review
Periodic examination of initial business cases prevents the compounding of errors. A founder performs an assumption audit to reveal if the foundations of a deal remain intact or have eroded through time. This step requires a return to original documents to find what was guessed and what was known.
Outcome Assessment
Failure to verify early beliefs leads to strategic misalignment and lost capacity. When an assumption audit exposes a false premise, the cost of the discovery is lower than the cost of continuing the error. Correcting a trajectory based on hard data saves years of effort.
Data proves that half of the friction in a partnership comes from a shared misunderstanding of the initial market position and the growth rate.
Evidence Requirement
Accurate records provide the basis for these investigations. The presence of a written log allows for a comparison between the forecast and the actual result. An assumption audit terminates when every major premise has been either validated or refuted.