Rule 24 of 32 · Chapter V — Carry, Don't Control
Believe in someone slightly past what the evidence currently supports, and tell them you do.
Why this rule exists
People grow into the estimate they are given more often than they grow into the one they have earned. If you only ever back proven ability, you become an auditor of the past rather than someone who builds anything. Saying the belief out loud matters because most people cannot see their own trajectory from inside it.
In practice
Hand someone a task that is one clear step beyond their demonstrated range, tell them plainly why you think they can do it, and stay close enough to catch a fall without hovering. When they wobble, restate the belief rather than withdrawing it. Keep the stretch to one step — two is not faith, it is abandonment.
When it doesn't apply
Not when failure would be unrecoverable for them or genuinely dangerous to someone else. Belief is a gift you can afford to give; other people's safety is not yours to gamble with.