Do you remember in the old days of business training? There used to be a phrase, still prevalent today, that ‘to assume makes an ass out of u and me’. We were told never to assume.
This for me is not only out of date, but it’s plain wrong. It should be consigned to the era of conforming, regimentation, uniformity. The era that’s not the era we’re in.
Life’s too short, and the business world moves too fast, for us not to assume. There is too much complexity, too many variables, too little time for us to not to do otherwise, unless we want to left behind with the also rans. And who wants to be an also ran? They have neither choice nor control.
My advice on assuming is this:
– assume, whenever you can
– the first law of management is to check your facts, so do that if it’s possible, and do it quickly and effectively
– then make assumptions around what you don’t know, based on your experience, your gut feel, and preferably both
– then make that decision quickly and confidently
Assuming helps us make quick decisions, wrong decisions, fail more quickly, and learn and improve more quickly.
Paul Dilger's blog 
Indeed, there is another similar, but more colourful saying used in my industry — construction — “assumption is the mother of all f***-ups”.
I though, like you, believe that this is only true if you made an assumption in ignorance of facts that were at your disposal. An ‘educated guess’ is surely better than a delayed, but accurate, assessment?
In my discipline of Structural Engineering, the entire professional practise is based on assumption — not a single building erected in the last 300 years would be standing without it!
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Great addition to the discussion Andy, many thanks.
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