If you jump to conclusions and act on it
If you jump to conclusions and act on it, and if it turns out you are wrong, then you are stuck with it. You blew it and you own it.
Suppose you are inquiring about someone because they have applied for some job. You want to find out if they are qualified and you want character references as well. In the course of your inquiries, you are told that someone suspects he stole some money from his employer’s accounts. You are shocked by this and immediately report it. Your superior assumes that this was done properly, and the applicant is denied the job.
But the superior later finds out that this serious accusation was not independently verified and was in fact made by someone with suspected mental illness who also disliked the applicant. Further investigation shows that the accusation is without any substance and should not have been reported, at least not without a qualifier. The applicant sues. You are called into the superior’s office and guess what, you lose your job because you effectively jumped to a conclusion about the applicant and acted on it by reporting it, apparently as a fact.
This is only one scenario and there could be many, many more described. So, if you are evaluating something, be careful about jumping to conclusions. If something serious is being considered, get an independent confirmation or good additional advice before you act. If you jump to an erroneous conclusion and it has a bad effect, then it is your problem! You are guilty whether or not you are discovered and disciplined.
This applies to everyday chats about many things. We need to be careful about our beliefs and conclusions and their basis.
See also https://sites.google.com/view/investigate-him-her
https://sites.google.com/view/jumptoconclusions