--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The more assumptions we can invalidate…" description: "\"“The more assumptions we can invalidate, the faster we can find and fix problems, increases our resilience, agility, and ability to learn and innovate...." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ac/gene-kim-2268_resilience_the-more-assumptions-we-can-invalidate-t_2064526.jpg" --- # The more assumptions we can invalidate, the faster we can… ![“The more assumptions we can invalidate, the faster we can find and fix problems, increases our resilience, agility, and ability to learn and innovate.” quote by Gene Kim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ac/gene-kim-2268_resilience_the-more-assumptions-we-can-invalidate-t_2064526.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ac/gene-kim-2268_resilience_the-more-assumptions-we-can-invalidate-t_2064526.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ac/gene-kim-2268_resilience_the-more-assumptions-we-can-invalidate-t_2064526.jpg) > ““The more assumptions we can invalidate, the faster we can find and fix problems, increases our resilience, agility, and ability to learn and innovate.”” [Gene Kim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-kim/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Invalidating assumptions speeds problem solving, boosting resilience and innovation. **In simple terms:** Question assumptions to solve problems faster. Key Takeaway Challenge assumptions to innovate. Themes innovation resilience problem solving Mood analytical forward‑looking Type technical strategic When to use this quote - software development - product design - process improvement Key Concepts systems thinking agility Questions to Reflect On - What assumptions limit your work? - How can you test them quickly? A Different Perspective Assumption testing can be time‑consuming. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ability To Learn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ability-to-learn/) [Resilience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/resilience/) ## Related quotes > [Proactively working to develop mental strength increases your resilience to stress and reduces the toll it takes on you both physically and mentally.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-morin/proactively-working-to-develop-mental-strength-increases-your/) [Amy Morin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-morin/) > [“Resilience engineering tells us that we should routinely inject faults into the system, doing them frequently, to make them less painful.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-kim/resilience-engineering-tells-us-that-we-should-routinely-inject/) [Gene Kim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-kim/) > [“There are few more powerful mirrors of the human brain's astonishing ability to rearrange itself to learn a new intellectual function than the act…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maryanne-wolf/there-are-few-more-powerful-mirrors-of-the-human-brain-s-astonishing/) [Maryanne Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maryanne-wolf/) > [One skill you want to master in this day and age we live in, if you want to have an extraordinary life, is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-robbins/one-skill-you-want-to-master-in-this-day-and-age-we-live-in-if-you/) [Tony Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-robbins/) > [“Aim for success, not perfection. 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Wirthlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-b-wirthlin/) > [“The only sustainable competitive advantage is an organization's ability to learn faster than the competition.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-senge/the-only-sustainable-competitive-advantage-is-an-organization-s/) [Peter Senge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-senge/) > [ “Human beings, who are almost unique \[among animals\] in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-berkun/human-beings-who-are-almost-unique-among-animals-in-having-the/) [Scott Berkun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-berkun/) > [“What advice would you give to a smart, driven college student about to enter the “real world”? What advice should they ignore? Nobody really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-ferriss/what-advice-would-you-give-to-a-smart-driven-college-student-about-to/) [Timothy Ferriss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-ferriss/) > [“Our schools will not improve if we continue to focus only on reading and mathematics while ignoring the other studies that are essential elements…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-ravitch/our-schools-will-not-improve-if-we-continue-to-focus-only-on-reading/) [Diane Ravitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-ravitch/) ## More by Gene Kim > [“for those organizations that provided a stock ticker symbol, we found that high performers had 50% higher market capitalization growth over three years. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-kim/for-those-organizations-that-provided-a-stock-ticker-symbol-we-found/) [Gene Kim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-kim/) > [“A critical part of the Second Way is making wait times visible, so you know when your work spends days sitting in someone’s queue—or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-kim/a-critical-part-of-the-second-way-is-making-wait-times-visible-so-you/) [Gene Kim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-kim/) > [“when something does go wrong, we conduct blameless post-mortems, not to punish anyone, but to better understand what caused the accident and how to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-kim/when-something-does-go-wrong-we-conduct-blameless-post-mortems-not-to/) [Gene Kim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-kim/) > [“Bill Baker, a distinguished engineer at Microsoft, quipped that we used to treat servers like pets: “You name them and when they get sick,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-kim/bill-baker-a-distinguished-engineer-at-microsoft-quipped-that-we-used/) [Gene Kim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-kim/) > [“To even get feedback from our integration process would require twenty-four to thirty-six hours.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-kim/to-even-get-feedback-from-our-integration-process-would-require/) [Gene Kim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-kim/) > [“work can bounce between teams endlessly due to incomplete information, or work can be passed onto downstream work centers with problems that remain completely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-kim/work-can-bounce-between-teams-endlessly-due-to-incomplete-information/) [Gene Kim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-kim/) > [“practicing five minutes daily is better than practicing once a week for three hours. 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If you’re lucky, ten percent will get the desired benefits.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-kim/features-are-always-a-gamble-if-you-re-lucky-ten-percent-will-get-the/) [Gene Kim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-kim/) > [“I listen to Wes and Patty brainstorm ideas to reduce yet another dependency on Brent when something starts to bother me. Erik called WIP,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-kim/i-listen-to-wes-and-patty-brainstorm-ideas-to-reduce-yet-another/) [Gene Kim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-kim/) > [The status quo (of development) pre-ordains failure from the very beginning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-kim/the-status-quo-of-development-pre-ordains-failure-from-the-very/) [Gene Kim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-kim/) > [“high performers were twice as likely to exceed profitability, market share, and productivity goals. And,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-kim/high-performers-were-twice-as-likely-to-exceed-profitability-market/) [Gene Kim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-kim/) > [“we value improvement of our daily work more than daily work itself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-kim/we-value-improvement-of-our-daily-work-more-than-daily-work-itself/) [Gene Kim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-kim/) > [“Alert fatigue is the single biggest problem we have right now…We need to be more intelligent about our alerts or we’ll all go insane.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-kim/alert-fatigue-is-the-single-biggest-problem-we-have-right-now-we-need/) [Gene Kim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-kim/) [Explore all 175 Gene Kim quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-kim/) ## More Innovate quotes > [Those that innovate the future understand history the best.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-warren/those-that-innovate-the-future-understand-history-the-best/) [Rick Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-warren/) > [Don't try to innovate for the future. Innovate for the present!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-drucker/don-t-try-to-innovate-for-the-future-innovate-for-the-present/) [Peter Drucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-drucker/) > [When you're little and you don't have much dough, you have to innovate. You have to be sharp.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-rollins/when-you-re-little-and-you-don-t-have-much-dough-you-have-to-innovate/) [Henry Rollins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-rollins/) > [“It is as simple as that. Birds fly because they have wings and so when you can’t grow the wings, you can’t be called…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/it-is-as-simple-as-that-birds-fly-because-they-have-wings-and-so-when/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > [“In a world of those who follow the rules without deviation those who innovate even in the shadows, will rule. Never be a carbon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nalini-singh/in-a-world-of-those-who-follow-the-rules-without-deviation-those-who/) [Nalini Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nalini-singh/) > [If you truly want to innovate, there will be some failures, and this can be difficult for some organizations - especially public companies managing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-doughtie/if-you-truly-want-to-innovate-there-will-be-some-failures-and-this/) [Lynne Doughtie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-doughtie/) > [I think the food giants are realizing that one of the big myths of them is that they can innovate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-moss/i-think-the-food-giants-are-realizing-that-one-of-the-big-myths-of/) [Michael Moss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-moss/) > [We do not innovate anything ... How is it that novelties are introduced which were never even thought of by our predecessors?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose/we-do-not-innovate-anything-how-is-it-that-novelties-are-introduced/) [Ambrose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose/) > [Be creative. Innovate consistently on the little things that the big companies ignore. Little things often make big differences in business.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-branson/be-creative-innovate-consistently-on-the-little-things-that-the-big/) [Richard Branson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-branson/) > [“Discussing ideas can potentially increase the kinetic energy of ideas to a point where ideas turn into innovation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sukant-ratnakar/discussing-ideas-can-potentially-increase-the-kinetic-energy-of-ideas/) [Sukant Ratnakar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sukant-ratnakar/) > [Economic growth creates jobs, and countries grow when they educate their people and pursue policies that encourage households to save, existing businesses to invest,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-blair-henry/economic-growth-creates-jobs-and-countries-grow-when-they-educate/) [Peter Blair Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-blair-henry/) > [Continuous productivity manifests itself as an environment where the evolving tools and culture make it possible to innovate more and faster than ever, with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-sinofsky/continuous-productivity-manifests-itself-as-an-environment-where-the/) [Steven Sinofsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-sinofsky/) > [I've always been motivated to innovate where the implications are significant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blythe-masters/i-ve-always-been-motivated-to-innovate-where-the-implications-are/) [Blythe Masters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blythe-masters/) > [If you don't tolerate any risk, you can never innovate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-pahlka/if-you-don-t-tolerate-any-risk-you-can-never-innovate/) [Jennifer Pahlka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-pahlka/) > [The large organization has to learn to innovate, or it won't survive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-drucker/the-large-organization-has-to-learn-to-innovate-or-it-won-t-survive/) [Peter Drucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-drucker/) Browse all 221 Innovate quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The more assumptions we can invalidate, the faster we can find and fix problems, increases our resilience, agility, and ability to learn and innovate.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gene Kim" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-kim/the-more-assumptions-we-can-invalidate-the-faster-we-can-find-and-fix/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Innovate" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-kim/the-more-assumptions-we-can-invalidate-the-faster-we-can-find-and-fix/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ac/gene-kim-2268_resilience_the-more-assumptions-we-can-invalidate-t_2064526.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ac/gene-kim-2268_resilience_the-more-assumptions-we-can-invalidate-t_2064526.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ac/gene-kim-2268_resilience_the-more-assumptions-we-can-invalidate-t_2064526.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The more assumptions we can invalidate, the faster we can find and fix problems, increases our resilience…” — Gene Kim", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Gene Kim", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-kim/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“The more assumptions we can invalidate,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-kim/the-more-assumptions-we-can-invalidate-the-faster-we-can-find-and-fix/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-kim/the-more-assumptions-we-can-invalidate-the-faster-we-can-find-and-fix/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```