Women have less teeth than men - or so Aristotle reckoned.

The Greek philosopher Aristotle believed that women had less teeth than men. The way he reached that conclusion was simple - he just decided it must be so.

Many managers and leaders also believe certain things to be true and base their decisions on these beliefs. But if they sought the facts, like Aristotle should have, they would find that they could well be making important decisions on false assumptions or misconceptions.

We should be obsessed with getting the facts. Sherlock Holmes said "It is a capital mistake to theorise in advance of the facts". As leaders we are expected to make quick and correct decisions, and so we should. But we also should be aware of the need to reassess what we think is the truth. Balance the need for speed and accuracy with the desire for the facts.

After all, all Aristotle had to do was to ask his wife to open up wide!

Cheers

Greg