I pulled a card this morning that read, “Don’t Make Assumptions. Be yourself around others.” Fitting for a Tuesday that always tries to sprint before it stretches. Most of our bottlenecks are imaginary traffic cones we set down ourselves.

Assumptions flatten people. In music and Web3, we’re guilty of filling silence with guesses: what a collector wants, what an artist is “about,” how a DAO will vote. That’s lazy storytelling. The better story starts with a question and a real introduction. Our values—Zeal. Alignment. Ownership.—aren’t just a tagline; they’re a workflow. Zeal gets you to hit send. Alignment means you ask to understand, not to confirm your bias. Ownership is showing your face without the performance mask and letting the work speak in your voice.

If today’s card lands with you, try this: before your next message, replace one assumption with one question. You’ll ship faster, collaborate cleaner, and you might even like your own voice more.