Assessment vs Assertion

An assertion can be true or false ("we missed the deadline"). An assessment is an opinion or judgment ("the team is unreliable") and it is neither true nor false, only grounded or ungrounded. The confusion between the two starts most arguments.

A grounded assessment names the standard, the evidence, and the concern behind it, and it can be owned and tested. Learning to make and ask for grounded assessments, instead of trading ungrounded ones, is one of the most practical skills there is.

“Enlightenment,” Fernando Flores says, “is the ability to tell the difference between an assessment and an assertion.”