What’s clouding your view today?

In high-stakes conversations, it's easy to misread the room or miss key signals - all because of one thing: unchecked assumptions. 

This quote from Alan Alda leapt off the page this morning, right after a workshop I ran yesterday on how to shift our perspective for the conversations that matter.

Here’s the full version from Alda’s 1980 commencement speech:

“Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won’t come in. If you challenge your own, you won’t be so quick to accept the unchallenged assumptions of others. You’ll be a lot less likely to be caught up in bias or prejudice or be influenced by people who ask you to hand over your brains, your soul or your money because they have everything all figured out for you.”

📌 Why it matters

We all rely on assumptions - they help our brains process information quickly. But if we don’t challenge them, they distort our reality.

When assumptions go unchecked, we risk misreading the room, missing key opportunities, or even pushing for the wrong outcomes.

🧰 For the toolbox

Years ago, my coach Jim Camp underlined the importance of blank slating - the habit of clearing your mental slate before stepping into a negotiation.

It's powerful advice. It not only gets us closer to reality, but it shifts our presence, helping us bring calm to high-stakes moments.

Imagine stepping into your next big conversation with a Clean Screen - having used your mental window wipers to clear off the assumptions and expectations that could be clouding your view. How different could that feel? What might you see?

At the end of the day, it's about doing our best to see things as they are, not as we assume them to be.

As leaders, influencers and negotiators we want to get as close to the reality of the situation as we can.

👉 When was the last time you scrubbed your windows?