← All resources 30 minutes · Worksheet

Assumptions & Evidence Worksheet

Use when you need to answer: "What do we know, what are we assuming, and what is the riskiest assumption?"

Separate what the team actually knows from what it is currently guessing.

Core Question

  1. What do we know, what are we assuming, and what is the riskiest assumption?

What to Document

  1. Known facts — supported by evidence

  2. Assumptions — believed likely but not yet validated

  3. Hypotheses — testable statements

  4. Unknowns — important information the team doesn't have

  5. For each key assumption: confidence, evidence source, validation action, consequence if wrong

Common Mistake to Avoid

  1. Writing an assumption into a strategy document and then treating it as settled fact simply because it is written down.

Illustrative Example

  1. 'Account managers will trust AI-suggested follow-ups' is an assumption, not a fact, until it has been tested with real users doing real follow-ups.

Output of this stage

Every major claim is labeled as fact, assumption, hypothesis, or unknownThe riskiest assumption has an owner and a validation planNo unvalidated assumption is being treated as a foundation for scope decisions
Want a second opinion on your answers?

Bring this worksheet to a strategy session.

Book a Strategy Session All resources →