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180	<time datetime="2014-07-08" class="article_time">July  8, 2014</time>
181  <h1 class="article_title">
182    <a href="http://verbadam.com/assume-youre-wrong">Assume You’re Wrong</a>
183  </h1>
184	<p>I was at <a href="http://www.payscale.com/">PayScale</a> for a little over 7. <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=14483039">I’ve</a> <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=364586">had</a> <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=542416">some</a> <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=117119">really</a> <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=1269287">incredible</a> <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=386439">mentors</a> along the way, and after several years, I’ve synthesized a lot of my learning into one simple sentence: <strong>Assume You’re Wrong</strong>.</p>
185
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187
188<p>I started taking this philosophy after designing several A/B tests and having all of our awesome designs and ideas ultimately fail when put in front of users. For the next test, my boss at the time, <a href="http://douglastarr.com/">Doug</a>

188, said: “Adam, what do we learn when this test fails?” I remember thinking: “oh sh*t. This is such an obvious thing to be asking myself, but I haven’t been.” It was one of my rare moments of introspection that help transform me: I need to assume that I’ve gotten at least one thing wrong, and that that was OK, but I needed to understand that a flaw existed.</p>
189
190<p>One of the most difficult problems as a program or product manager is that you become attached to your <u>solution</u> to a problem, and forget that a flaw exists in your plan. Then, when someone criticizes that solution, you become defensive. If you take the approach that what you’ve come up with just <u>one</u> of the many possible solutions to that problem and that another solution to that problem may be better, you’re leaving yourself open to improving your product. </p>
191
192<p>And, even before you’re talking or showing a potential solution to others, you can use this position to help you be critical of your own work. When you assume that there is a flaw in your logic or solution, you’ll be looking for one, and odds are that you’ll find one.</p>
193
194<p>Feedback can come from anywhere. Don’t discount it even if it came from source you don’t like. Assume they know something, and that you may be wrong.</p>
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