​Under English law there are certain technical requirements for a contract to exist. There must be an offer, acceptance, consideration (£££) and an intention to create legally binding relations. Other jurisdictions have equivalent rules. If you meet these a contract can be created in the eyes of the law - and in most circumstances it does not matter if the accord is verbal or reduced to writing. Selling property is an exception.
 
A few weeks ago, I facilitated a seminar for colleagues responsible for contracts. We carried out a role-playing exercise to negotiate a contract change between a customer and a supplier - which was very engaging and constructive. The participants explored the different perspectives of the buyer and the seller with enthusiasm. At the end I asked if they had created a contract amendment (the attendees had been taught the basic contract rules earlier). To a person they all said no, essentially because any accord they reached had not been reduced to writing or gone through internal governance. There was some considerable consternation when I told them a legally binding agreement might have been reached orally as all of the legal requirements may have been met. To be fair many contracts specify a process for change to be in writing following a process - but in theory you could agree to change this! This particular assumption, that oral discussions involving two large organisations can never constitute a legally binding agreement, is amplified by the plethora of electronic communications we engage in on a daily basis which amplify the opportunity for some unintended commercial agreement to be reached. This risk can be mitigated by making meetings and communications “subject to contract”. However, it neatly illustrates my theme this week which is the dangers associated with making a false assumption about a situation in a professional context, especially where one set of competent professionals (which the seminar attendees definitely were – I learnt from them as well) stray into another area of expertise. 
 
This is what could be characterised as a problem of perception: an assumption that oral discussions involving two large organisations can never result in a legally binding agreement until you have gone through all your internal processes and a written amendment has been signed (or executed electronically). This “assumption” exposes a lack of true in depth understanding, or rather a mistaken belief as to the reality of a situation which can be very dangerous and expose your organisation or clients to considerable risk. AI proposes that “Making assumptions as a professional can lead to significant dangers like miscommunication, poor decision-making, strained relationships, missed opportunities, and a lack of innovation, as it often results in acting on incomplete information, potentially harming projects, client relationships, and team dynamics by creating unnecessary barriers and misunderstandings based on unfounded beliefs; essentially, assuming something is true without verifying it can lead to costly mistakes and hinder professional progress.”
 
In effect you get what might be called the “earth is flat” syndrome where some fundamental misapprehension can have profound consequences. By the way there are apparently still plenty of people around the world who genuinely believe the Earth is flat – see this article Fighting flat-Earth theory! This is all now aggravated by the “knowledge” available through AI and the Internet generally which can give a false impression of true understanding, especially when we stray into other areas of professional competence. This makes being a professional with a particular area of expertise more demanding. Take for example the potential challenges to historians and archaeologists from AI images showing erroneous historical facts such as that giants helped build the pyramids (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WelGSj6pbxo – it is in French but the pictures tell the story).
 
And this is not just about more extreme views. All of us as professionals can be limited in a strange sense by our own capability. I like this very good Harvard Business Review Article Don’t Be Blinded by Your Own Expertise which suggests that “expertise can actually severely impede performance, in two important ways. The first is overconfidence: believing that brilliance in one area leads to competence in another. The second is when deep knowledge and experience leave leaders incurious, blinkered, and vulnerable—even in their own fields”. It proposes some strategies to avoid this “expertise trap” including:
 
Challenge your own expertise. Cultivate more modesty, and remind yourself of your intellectual limitations.
 
Check your ego. ….try grounding yourself a little. Michael Bloomberg famously eschewed a lavish private office at his media company for a small, unremarkable cubicle.
 
Seek Out Fresh Ideas. Learning requires exposure to novelty. But when you’re an expert, it’s easy to become intellectually cloistered.
 
It wisely concludes:
 
“Exceptional leaders know that learning isn’t ever “finished”—it must be a lifelong pursuit, as humbling as it is joyful.”
 
See also this short but to the point article Stop Making Assumptions at Work which advises “It's important for business professionals to stop making assumptions at work. Otherwise, you may open the door to mistakes, costly misunderstandings, or imaginary personal conflicts. It's easy to assume that our colleagues or clients share the same priorities, have the same skills, or communicate the same way we do.” This can be in a technical area (as in my contract example above), general business or a people issue. This article 3 Ways That Making Assumptions Damages Your Team advises that “The problem is, taking on the opinions of other people and making assumptions is dangerous. It’s not only the negative opinions that can be a problem, but also the positive ones. Before you know it, you’ve made an assumption about somebody else, which may not be correct.” While this article observes that “Assumptions contribute in a major way to workplace miscommunication. Assumptions are taken as fact when there is no proof. They are often preconceived misconceptions about a situation, person, group, or task – likely based on past experiences with others.”
 
I think this can be quite a profound challenge and that mistaken beliefs can be damaging even within one profession. For example, the idea that to conclude a major corporate or commercial deal as a lawyer you must always work round the clock with no respite. Sure, this may at times be necessary and we have all done it (I once discovered you get discounted rates if you check into some London hotels after 2am!). However, I suggest that generally this is a working habit which is not good for individuals or the transaction. I recall one client who banned late night meetings because they feared the quality of the deal would suffer.
 
How then can we best avoid the sort of assumptions about contracts or otherwise that inevitably come up in our professional worlds? I think one of the answers is to be honest and recognise our limitations – be humbler and more prepared to ask basic questions and listen to and act on the answers.
 
As Douglas Adams the author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy sagely observed "The most misleading assumptions are the ones you don't even know you are making."
 

The lyrics of the song Teach Your Children by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young back in 1970 still reverberate in our Twenty First Century world – but they also sang about children teaching their parents: 
And you, of tender years
Can't know the fears your elders grew by
Help them with your youth
They seek the truth before they can die

We can and should all learn from and emulate the doyennes of our disciplines – those who through intellect and hard work have achieved a pre-eminent position in our professional world. But perhaps paradoxically we should also if we are humble enough recognise that we can learn from everyone, and even those who are lower down on the rungs of career ladders. When I was made a partner in one of the law firms I worked for I was given the job of managing all the firm’s trainee lawyers. This meant dealing with their initial recruitment including, organising their work experience and engaging the successful ones as assistant solicitors once they qualified. The trainees were generally welcomed and most colleagues engaged positively with their development. There were exceptions - in the days of individual offices (remember those) one well established partner once threw a heavy legal practitioner’s book (remember those as well!) at the trainee he shared his office with. Apparently, he sent the trainee out to buy some cold medicine and he got the wrong flavour. Fortunately the book missed, but I banned the partner from having any future trainees. 

But he was the exception, and I firmly believe that most of the lawyers learnt from our charges as we also taught them. In many ways they were by way of example more connected to what was happening in the firm than most solicitors and indeed even some partners. They worked throughout the practice and had a social life together and a sort of jungle telegraph that meant they knew about changes and developments, sometimes before the senior partner. And they brought with them new ways of learning the law and using technology as successive new generations entered the profession. As AI suggests: “Learning from more junior professionals can involve gaining fresh perspectives, new approaches to problems, a strong grasp on emerging technologies, increased awareness of recent trends, and the ability to understand the learning curve of new employees, all while providing valuable mentorship and guidance to help them develop their skills.”

However, I suggest that too often as we advance in our respective professions we assume we are right simply because we have more experience and do not do enough to listen to and foster the contributions of our more junior colleagues. And indeed, they may be reluctant to share their thoughts in the presence of senior more seasoned professionals. I propose we will all benefit by encouraging ideas from all in our professional teams and workplaces including the more junior members. This could, for example, include creating safe spaces by establishing a culture where junior employees feel comfortable providing honest feedback without fear of repercussions. Actively seeking out their perspectives by bringing them into the discussions at a meeting also helps.

See this Forbes article What Older Workers And Younger Workers Can Learn From Each Other which commences “There’s a great cultural and technological divide between younger and older workers, but both can benefit from each other’s knowledge and skills in important ways.” It proposes some things younger workers can teach their older colleagues:

• New technologies that will impact internal collaboration and their profession and industry and how to use them
• The importance of diversity and how it can benefit the team, since younger employees are the most diverse in history
• How change is inevitable, why the skills of today may not be as valuable in the future and how to learn new skills
• Why they shouldn’t give up on their dreams — research shows that younger workers are more optimistic and can use that to inspire older workers
• The collaborative mindset that will help older workers best interact with them, brainstorm, and come up with new ideas

It concludes “workers of all age groups need to come together and focus on the mission: fostering a culture in which everyone can continually learn and improve.”

This has all been exacerbated by the opportunities and challenges of remote working in our professional worlds. “Back in the day” in law firms it was pretty much assumed that trainees would be in the office all the time – hence the practice of sharing an office with a more senior lawyer I refer to above. But the advent of more remote working has made that something of a challenge, especially as even if the more junior lawyers are in the office, their seniors may not be. See this interesting article from the Harvard Business Review Investing in the Development of Young, Remote Employeewhich comments “With the ascent of remote and hybrid teams over the past few years, the landscape of our work has undergone a profound transformation. Many young professionals started their careers during this tumultuous period, interviewing for and starting new jobs in remote environments. Smart companies are taking proactive steps to support this cohort’s professional development.” It then discusses some solutions including:

“Identify Reverse Mentoring Opportunities. Often when we think of mentoring, it’s from the vantage point of a more senior professional providing guidance to a more junior member of the team. But it’s important to remember that knowledge sharing works both ways. Mentorship presents a valuable opportunity for early career professionals to forge connections within the company.

Create Open Space for Conversations. When you’re at the start of your career, you may be hesitant to speak up in a team meeting or share an observation with a more senior peer. Dedicating time during the work week for more informal connection is a smart strategy that enables inclusion, especially for quieter voices.”

It is also worth bearing in mind that as we mature in our professional world what goes around comes around as it were, and our trainees and juniors can and will become our managers in due course. Hopefully they will then remember our encouragement when they were young and have a positive view of the potential contributions of their elder colleagues!
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As Nelson Mandela said: “Sometimes it falls upon a younger generation to be agents of change.”