When Assumptions Miss the Mark: How to Recalibrate and Realign in a New Role

You’re making moves in your new role - but results don’t match expectations - you realize you’ve been operating on faulty assumptions.

Maybe people aren’t responding as expected because their roles and priorities don’t align with your assumptions. Or departments can’t collaborate as you hoped because their capacity or capabilities differ from what you presumed.

These misalignments, if unaddressed, can snowball and limit your impact. The challenge is twofold: recognizing where your assumptions were off and addressing the reality constructively.

The opportunity? Course correction.

Once you spot flawed assumptions, you can gather the right data, recalibrate, and realign your approach. In any new role, the key is to keep testing and validating assumptions - ensuring your decisions reflect reality and enable you to lead with clarity and impact.