Question vs assumption
A question is what you do not know yet. An assumption is what you act on until you do.
In short
A question is an open point that needs someone's answer. An assumption is the working answer the team uses meanwhile. In Corpole they live together: every question carries its working assumption.
Side by side
| Question | Assumption | |
|---|---|---|
| States | What is unknown | What we act on for now |
| Owner | Whoever must answer | The team, until the answer comes |
| Danger | Staying open forever | Being forgotten and treated as fact |
| Ends when | Answered | Confirmed or replaced by the answer |
How to tell them apart
- Every assumption should point to the question it stands in for.
- An assumption with no question is a hidden guess.
- When a question is answered differently from its assumption, check the work built on the assumption.
Example: Clinic Booking
Question: "Can a parent move an appointment for their child?"
Assumption: "For now, patients can only move their own appointments."
Why the difference matters to an agent
Agents always assume something when information is missing. Asking them to open a question and state the assumption turns a silent guess into a visible, correctable one — and when the answer arrives, the affected work is easy to find.