gh-dotclaude-marketplace-plugins-insight-engine/commands/assumption_audit.md

---
model: claude-sonnet-4-0
allowed-tools: Task, Read, Write, Bash(*), Glob, Grep
argument-hint: <domain-or-proposal> [--audit-depth=<level>] [--challenge-method=<approach>] [--scope=<breadth>]
description: Fundamental premise challenging with alternative framework generation
---

# Assumption Audit Engine

Systematically identify, examine, and challenge fundamental assumptions to reveal hidden constraints and generate alternative frameworks for breakthrough thinking. Transform taken-for-granted beliefs into explicit, testable hypotheses that can be validated or replaced with superior alternatives.

## Audit Depth Framework

### Explicit Level (Stated assumptions and declared premises)
[Extended thinking: Surface assumptions that are openly stated but rarely questioned. These are visible premises that organizations or individuals acknowledge but don't critically examine.]

**Identification Targets:**
- **Declared Constraints**: Explicitly stated limitations that may be negotiable
- **Policy Premises**: Organizational rules based on assumptions about efficiency or necessity
- **Method Assumptions**: Stated beliefs about why certain approaches work best
- **Resource Limitations**: Declared scarcity that may reflect historical rather than current reality
- **Timeline Constraints**: Stated deadlines based on assumptions about dependencies and priorities

**Audit Questions:**
- "What explicit constraints are we stating, and why do we believe they're absolute?"
- "Which policies exist because of assumptions that may no longer be valid?"
- "What stated limitations might be more flexible than we assume?"
- "Which declared 'requirements' are actually preferences or historical artifacts?"
- "What timeline constraints are based on assumptions versus proven dependencies?"

### Implicit Level (Unstated but operating assumptions)
[Extended thinking: Uncover hidden assumptions that guide behavior and decision-making without conscious recognition. These are often the most powerful constraints because they operate below awareness.]

**Identification Targets:**
- **Cultural Defaults**: Unspoken beliefs about "how things are done" in organization or domain
- **Success Definitions**: Unstated assumptions about what constitutes good outcomes
- **User Behavior Models**: Hidden beliefs about how people will interact with systems
- **Market Assumptions**: Unstated beliefs about customer needs and competitive dynamics
- **Technology Premises**: Hidden assumptions about what's possible or practical

**Audit Questions:**
- "What behaviors do we exhibit that reveal unstated beliefs?"
- "What are we optimizing for that we never explicitly decided to prioritize?"
- "What user behaviors are we assuming without validation?"
- "Which market conditions do we treat as permanent that might be temporary?"
- "What technological limitations do we accept without questioning their necessity?"

### Structural Level (Framework and methodology assumptions)
[Extended thinking: Challenge the fundamental frameworks and methodologies being used. Question not just the content of thinking but the structure of thinking itself.]

**Identification Targets:**
- **Analytical Frameworks**: Assumed models for understanding and analysis
- **Decision-Making Processes**: Unstated assumptions about how choices should be made
- **Problem-Solving Approaches**: Hidden beliefs about effective methodology
- **Measurement Systems**: Assumptions about what should be measured and how
- **Organizational Structures**: Unstated beliefs about how work should be organized

**Audit Questions:**
- "What analytical framework are we using, and why is it the right one?"
- "What assumptions underlie our decision-making process?"
- "Are we solving the right problem, or just the problem we know how to solve?"
- "What are we measuring, and what does that reveal about our assumptions?"
- "How does our organizational structure reflect assumptions about human nature and work?"

### Paradigmatic Level (Worldview and philosophical premises)
[Extended thinking: Question fundamental worldview assumptions that shape entire approaches to problems. Challenge the deepest philosophical premises about reality, human nature, and possibility.]

**Identification Targets:**
- **Reality Models**: Basic assumptions about how the world works
- **Human Nature Beliefs**: Fundamental assumptions about motivation, capability, and behavior
- **Value System Premises**: Unstated beliefs about what matters most
- **Progress Assumptions**: Hidden beliefs about development, improvement, and change
- **Possibility Boundaries**: Assumptions about what's achievable or impossible

**Audit Questions:**
- "What fundamental beliefs about reality underlie our entire approach?"
- "What assumptions about human nature shape our strategies?"
- "Which values are we prioritizing without conscious choice?"
- "What beliefs about progress and improvement guide our decisions?"
- "What do we assume is impossible that might actually be achievable?"

## Challenge Methodology Framework

### Evidence Examination Protocol
[Extended thinking: Systematically demand proof for assumptions, testing their factual foundation and empirical support.]

**Evidence Validation Process:**
1. **Source Identification**: Where did this assumption originate?
2. **Recency Assessment**: How current is the supporting evidence?
3. **Context Relevance**: Does evidence from other contexts apply here?
4. **Sample Size Evaluation**: Is evidence based on sufficient data?
5. **Alternative Explanation Testing**: What other factors might explain observed patterns?

**Evidence Quality Framework:**
- **Primary vs. Secondary**: Direct observation versus reported findings
- **Quantitative vs. Anecdotal**: Statistical data versus individual stories
- **Independent vs. Interested**: Unbiased sources versus stakeholder claims
- **Recent vs. Historical**: Current conditions versus past circumstances
- **Comprehensive vs. Limited**: Broad sampling versus narrow examples

### Alternative Generation Engine
[Extended thinking: Create competing premises and frameworks that could replace existing assumptions with potentially superior alternatives.]

**Alternative Development Process:**
1. **Assumption Inversion**: What if the opposite assumption were true?
2. **Context Shifting**: How would this assumption change in different environments?
3. **Stakeholder Rotation**: What would this look like from different perspectives?
4. **Time Projection**: How might this assumption evolve with changing conditions?
5. **Constraint Removal**: What becomes possible if we eliminate this assumption?

**Alternative Categories:**
- **Incremental Variations**: Small modifications to existing assumptions
- **Orthogonal Approaches**: Completely different frameworks for same problem
- **Paradigm Shifts**: Fundamental worldview changes that transform everything
- **Hybrid Models**: Combinations of existing and alternative assumptions
- **Future-State Projections**: Assumptions appropriate for anticipated future conditions

### Edge Case Testing Framework
[Extended thinking: Find boundary conditions and extreme scenarios where assumptions break down, revealing their limitations and appropriate scope.]

**Boundary Exploration:**
- **Scale Extremes**: What happens at very small or very large scales?
- **Performance Limits**: At what point do assumptions cease to function?
- **Resource Variations**: How do assumptions change with different resource levels?
- **Context Extremes**: What conditions would make assumptions invalid?
- **Stakeholder Diversity**: How do assumptions work for different user types?

**Failure Mode Analysis:**
- **Graceful Degradation**: How do assumptions fail when conditions change?
- **Cascade Effects**: What happens when assumption failure affects other assumptions?
- **Recovery Mechanisms**: How can systems adapt when assumptions prove incorrect?
- **Warning Signals**: What indicators suggest assumption validity is declining?
- **Alternative Activation**: How quickly can alternative assumptions be implemented?

## Execution Examples

### Example 1: Product Development Assumption Audit
```bash
assumption_audit "Our users want more features" --audit-depth=implicit --challenge-method=evidence --scope=comprehensive
```

**Implicit Assumption Identification:**
- **Hidden Premise**: "Feature quantity correlates with user satisfaction"
- **Unstated Belief**: "Users can effectively utilize additional complexity"
- **Cultural Default**: "Progress means adding capabilities"
- **Success Definition**: "Customer requests indicate true needs"
- **User Behavior Model**: "Power users represent our core market"

**Evidence Examination:**
- **Request vs. Usage Analysis**: Do users actually use requested features?
- **Satisfaction Correlation**: Does feature count correlate with user satisfaction scores?
- **Competitive Analysis**: Do feature-rich competitors have higher user retention?
- **Behavior Tracking**: How do users interact with existing feature sets?
- **Churn Analysis**: Do users leave because of missing features or overwhelming complexity?

**Alternative Framework Generation:**
- **Alternative 1**: "Users want better execution of core features rather than new features"
- **Alternative 2**: "Different user segments have completely different feature priorities"
- **Alternative 3**: "Users want easier workflows, which might mean fewer, not more features"
- **Alternative 4**: "Feature requests reflect user workarounds for poor core functionality"

### Example 2: Organizational Structure Assumption Audit
```bash
assumption_audit "Hierarchical management improves coordination" --audit-depth=structural --challenge-method=alternative-generation --scope=organizational
```

**Structural Framework Challenge:**
- **Management Hierarchy**: Assumes information flows efficiently up and down command chains
- **Decision Authority**: Assumes people closest to authority make best decisions
- **Coordination Mechanism**: Assumes central coordination prevents conflicts and duplication
- **Accountability Structure**: Assumes clear reporting lines improve responsibility
- **Information Flow**: Assumes managers effectively filter and distribute information

**Alternative Generation Process:**
- **Network Model**: Self-organizing teams with peer-to-peer coordination
- **Market Model**: Internal teams compete and collaborate like external vendors
- **Community Model**: Shared ownership and collective decision-making
- **Platform Model**: Central infrastructure with autonomous product teams
- **Hybrid Models**: Different structures for different types of work

**Edge Case Testing:**
- **Rapid Change**: How does hierarchy handle fast-moving, uncertain environments?
- **Creative Work**: Does hierarchical oversight help or hinder innovation?
- **Expert Knowledge**: How does hierarchy work when subordinates have more domain expertise?
- **Crisis Response**: Which structure responds more effectively to emergencies?
- **Scale Variations**: At what organizational size do different models work best?

### Example 3: Technology Architecture Assumption Audit
```bash
assumption_audit "Microservices improve system maintainability" --audit-depth=paradigmatic --challenge-method=paradigm-shift --scope=technical
```

**Paradigmatic Challenge:**
- **Modularity Paradigm**: Assumes breaking systems into smaller pieces improves understanding
- **Independence Ideal**: Assumes loose coupling always improves system properties
- **Distributed Systems Philosophy**: Assumes network-based coordination is manageable
- **Service Ownership Model**: Assumes team boundaries should match service boundaries
- **Technology Diversity Belief**: Assumes freedom to choose different technologies per service is beneficial

**Paradigm Shift Exploration:**
- **Monolithic Excellence**: What if we made monoliths so good that splitting them became unnecessary?
- **Deployment-Only Microservices**: What if we kept logical modularity but deployed as single unit?
- **Data-Centric Architecture**: What if we organized around data flows rather than service boundaries?
- **Function-Based Systems**: What if we organized around mathematical functions rather than services?
- **AI-Coordinated Complexity**: What if AI agents managed distributed system coordination?

**Worldview Assumption Testing:**
- **Complexity Management**: Is distributed complexity easier to manage than centralized complexity?
- **Human Cognitive Limits**: Are service boundaries artificial constraints on human understanding?
- **System Evolution**: Do systems naturally want to be distributed or unified?
- **Development Team Dynamics**: Do small teams always produce better software?

## Advanced Audit Features

### Assumption Interdependency Mapping
[Extended thinking: Identify how assumptions depend on each other and how challenging one assumption might cascade to others.]

**Dependency Analysis:**
- **Foundation Assumptions**: Core premises that support multiple other assumptions
- **Chain Dependencies**: Linear sequences where each assumption depends on the previous
- **Circular Dependencies**: Assumptions that mutually reinforce each other
- **Hierarchical Support**: How high-level assumptions justify lower-level premises
- **Cross-Domain Connections**: How assumptions in one area affect other areas

### Cultural Context Assessment
[Extended thinking: Understand how assumptions are shaped by and embedded in specific cultural, organizational, or professional contexts.]

**Context Evaluation:**
- **Industry Culture**: How professional norms shape assumptions
- **Organizational History**: How past experiences create current assumptions
- **Geographic Influence**: How location and culture affect premises
- **Generational Differences**: How assumptions vary across age groups
- **Educational Background**: How training and education embed assumptions

### Assumption Evolution Tracking
[Extended thinking: Monitor how assumptions change over time and predict future assumption shifts.]

**Evolution Patterns:**
- **Historical Progression**: How assumptions have changed in the past
- **Trigger Events**: What events cause assumption shifts
- **Gradual Drift**: Slow assumption evolution without explicit recognition
- **Revolutionary Shifts**: Rapid, dramatic assumption changes
- **Cyclical Patterns**: Assumptions that periodically return in new forms

## Success Optimization

### Audit Quality Indicators
- **Assumption Discovery**: Identification of previously unrecognized premises
- **Evidence Rigor**: Thorough testing of assumption foundations
- **Alternative Creativity**: Generation of genuinely different frameworks
- **Challenge Depth**: Willingness to question fundamental premises
- **Implementation Readiness**: Practical pathways for assumption replacement

### Breakthrough Potential Assessment
- **Constraint Liberation**: Freedom from limiting beliefs
- **Innovation Opportunity**: New possibilities revealed through assumption challenging
- **Competitive Advantage**: Unique approaches unavailable to assumption-bound competitors
- **Problem Reframing**: Better problem definitions through assumption questioning
- **Solution Space Expansion**: Broader range of possible solutions

### Risk Management
- **Assumption Replacement Safety**: Ensuring new assumptions are better than old ones
- **Change Management**: Managing transition from old to new assumption sets
- **Validation Methodology**: Testing new assumptions before full commitment
- **Rollback Planning**: Preparing for assumption change failure
- **Stakeholder Communication**: Explaining assumption changes to affected parties

The assumption_audit command reveals hidden constraints and creates breakthrough opportunities by systematically challenging fundamental premises and generating alternative frameworks that expand solution possibilities.