Making assumptions about the world around us is human nature. We have a sense for how the world operates and we interpret information and events based on our experiences and expectations. Peter Senge, author of The Fifth Discipline, calls these assumptions “leaps of abstraction.”

We make leaps of abstraction at work all the time. We assume we know what our customers require, what engages our employees, the source of a problem, and our marketplace and competitors. Because our assumptions may not, in truth, reflect reality, acting on them can cause all sorts of problems, and learning the truth through sound data and information can challenge our most dearly held beliefs.

This is what happened recently in Japan. Japan has a reputation for producing many of the world’s oldest people due, it has long claimed, to superior diet and a commitment to the elderly. It assumed it excelled in this area—until police found the body of one of the country’s centenarians, a man believed to be 111, who had been dead for more than thirty years.

The shocking discovery challenged a long-held belief, prompting officials to verify the status of the other centenarians in the country. According to an article in the New York Times by Martin Fackler, one of Tokyo’s oldest citizens at 113 had not been seen since the 1980s. City officials tried to visit a 125-year-old only to discover that her registered address had been turned into a city park in 1981.

To date, authorities have been unable to find 281 Japanese citizens listed as 100 or older. The search has made daily front-page news as Japanese try to understand the scope of the problem, whether the nation truly supports its most senior citizens, and what it means for the future of a rapidly-graying country.

Take a moment to challenge your beliefs about your organization. As Senge suggests, ask yourself “what you believe about the way the world works—the nature of business, people in general and specific individuals. Then ask: What is the data on which this generalization is based?”

Management by fact, a Baldrige core value, holds that plans, decisions, initiatives, policies, and actions will be more effective if they are based on reliable data and information than if they are based on assumptions.

Look for our newest report on performance measurement, coming soon, to learn how Baldrige Award winners manage by fact.

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