There has been a death in our society that has yet to be noticed; the death of common sense. I discovered that common sense is kind of hard to define because everyone seems to have a different idea of what it is and what isnt. Heres my take on it: Common sense is native good judgment derived from experience based on the reasonable person standard. What would the average, reasonable person do in a situation?
Common sense is a funny thing. We admire people who have a strategic mind, a flair for style, or vast creativity. We rarely admire someone for his or her common sense. Its the unsung hero of attributes. We seem to assume that everyone has it and is actively using it in the foundation of their actions, decisions and behaviors.
And so we take it for granted. We downplay it as being simple-minded thinking. It sure isnt in the same league as strategic thinking, is it? It is SO simple, elementary and basic that we dont get trained in using common sense. It isnt evaluated on our performance reviews. No one talks about it.
Ironically, it seems to me that the easiest way to impress someone with your brilliance is by demonstrating common sense. State the obvious and people will be blown away by your insight.
After joining a company, I was handed a 16 page process document that detailed the steps managers had to take when recruiting and hiring a new employee. I looked at that packet of professionally written fluff and laughed to myself. No one would ever take the time to read this! Common sense (and experience) told me that managers wont read anything longer than a bullet-point that is direct and to the point. I proposed rewriting the process into a one page checklist and an accompanying one page flowchart. My new manager was floored! Upon completion, I was greeted with gratitude and raving kudos. And people actually used it.
To me, that was using common sense. In todays workplace, common sense told me that people are busy and need fast, efficient ways of doing their work. A formally written process document the length of a short novel was destined to be ignored.
While Id like to see common sense guiding more business activity such as processes and strategy, Im stunned to see the areas where common sense seems to have been shot to death for monetary gain.
As a kid, I learned to use good judgment (common sense) and to not harm others (ethics). Then I grew up and I had to incorporate those same values into each environment I entered so I could survive and hold my head up high and with pride. When I started working, I figured that common sense told me:
1) not to steal from my employer, coworkers or the customers
2) not to lie to my manager, coworkers or the company
3) not to alter company documents, forge signatures or engage in any other illegal activity
As I write this, I realize that common sense embodies a lot of things. It holds an umbrella over ethics, good manners, sound judgment, morals and cultural norms. I think common sense tells you to act appropriately in the environment you find yourself in. When in church, you conduct yourself a certain way because common sense tells you that singing out loud along with your iPod would be frowned upon. When at work, common sense tells you to act professionally, which affects how you converse with a VP in the elevator.
If you know that stealing, lying or doing something illegal would get you fired if you were caught, wouldnt common sense nip temptation in the bud? For the average, reasonable person, I believe that it would. Common sense would jump in and redirect you back on the right path, right?
And yet, every company I know has a handbook filled with policies to remind employees that lying on timecards, stealing company property and harassing coworkers is cause for disciplinary action, up to and including termination. Outside of the legal reasons for doing so, we actually need to put this in writing and remind employees of this in annual training sessions?
I dont need a policy to tell me not to harass other employees, because common sense tells me to treat others with courtesy and respect. I dont need a policy telling me not to alter company documents because common sense tells me I could serve jail time if caught.
Maybe that is because I have common sense. I value my common sense because it is the one thing that will keep me out of trouble. Common sense tells me not to go into a bad neighborhood at night alone. It tells me not to lie, cheat, steal or do things with malicious intent. Fundamentally, it helps me protect my body, mind, heart, spirit and soul - and my assets.
Think of how much easier life would be if people used common sense to guide their decisions and actions. We dont need more strategy and innovative solutions to make business run more effectively. We need more common sense. Assessing people for their common sense when interviewing them will help you weed out people who need a policy book reminding them that fraud and theft are wrong. Using common sense when building a process or procedure can help you get the results you want. Using common sense in the way you treat people can derail issues with morale, undermining and unforeseen resignations.
Common sense may be the unsung hero but it is essential for the game plan. Let common sense be the spine and foundation of every action, decision and behavior. You’ll be amazed at how much easier business - and your life - suddenly becomes.
For more articles by this author, please go to: http://healthefield.blogspot.com
To Blame or Not To BlameA man can fall many times, but he isnt a failure until he begins to blame somebody else. (John Burroughs)Fire her, she set me up! John yelled quite loudly. He was incredibly angry and for good reason. However, he was really angry at the wrong person. What he was really saying was […]
Written by info on August 19th, 2007 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on ethics.
You know that one. Hes the one in the office who puts out all the great ideas then steps out of the way while you do the work, but comes back just in time to tell you how you did it all wrong. His interest gravitates only to Power and Recognition. He isnt interested in doing the work, actually participating in the project, or actively becoming involved in the accomplishment. He only wants the glory of suggestion and the recognition of completion.
Over the past several years one particular person has instigated several projects in a group I actively participate in. This person shows up suggests a project and disappears for the next several meetings, appearing often enough to rip apart most anything thats been accomplished toward the completion of any article, find fault with any work done on the project, and disappear again until the next round of complaints and judgmental condemnations are ready.
Unfortunately, there are those members of the group who desire accomplishment enough to go the extra mile and attempt to complete the projects in the face of this sorry individual who desires only the glory. Those members willingly commit their time and effort to the project and work hard to gain acceptable results, while inadvertently complying with the demanding coworker with the bad attitude.
There is a solution.
When the power hungry recognition monster rears its head on that occasional appearance, if the rest of the members suggest that person get started on the project and agree to jump in and do their part after the original project is well started, the power disappears. That person looses the control factor and becomes just another peon in the group. The project in question is either activated by the instigator, or dies on the table. The power monger must either get into the project or let it die the unnatural death of neglect.
So, the next time someone in your office or group comes up with an incredible opportunity to accomplish something and you know for a fact they arent going to actively participate in the completion of the project, bow out gracefully by suggesting they get it started and offer to jump in with your part when the project is actively ongoing. Otherwise let their own neglect of their project kill it.
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To Blame or Not To BlameA man can fall many times, but he isnt a failure until he begins to blame somebody else. (John Burroughs)Fire her, she set me up! John yelled quite loudly. He was incredibly angry and for good reason. However, he was really angry at the wrong person. What he was really saying was […]
Written by info on August 19th, 2007 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on ethics.
When people from my grandfathers generation retired after being with a company for decades they got gold watches. Gold watches no longer exist as far as companies are concerned. Now companies give out pink slips (a.k.a. their walking papers) after 25 years of service. We are living in a different world but it is humorous to me in a way.
Companies no longer have loyalty to those employees that have been loyal to them for years and years of service. When it is clear that companies no longer care about their employees in most cases, it is funny to me when the management of a company gets upset when the employees are no longer loyal to them either. They still expect the employees to be loyal without giving it in return. The same applies for customers. They get upset when a customer of 25 years leaves for a company just because of a cheaper price.
I have said in a previous article that I work for Liberty Mutual Insurance. Since I have gotten in the department I am in now, which is Personal Sales, I have seen some very good employees either forced out the door or forced into taking demotions. The new management comes in and decides they want their own people in place. They either eliminate positions to get some people out the door or they just performance manage them out the door.
I am not singling out Liberty Mutual by any means. In fact, I suspect other companies are even worse because Liberty has historically been a very conservative company. Other more aggressive companies are probably laying even more people off, or pushing more people out the doors so they can replace them with their people who are younger and cheaper.
I am also not saying that some of the older people do not deserve to move on. Some people I have managed over the last year and a half in this department just do not want to be here and they make it obvious. They continue to do things the way they have always done it. They make little effort to learn new technologies and procedures to keep up with the changing business world and customers demands. These people are not the ones I am referring to in this article. I am referring to the people who are on top of their game, still making a significant contribution to the company and they are just forced out because management does not like them.
I think Liberty Mutual is one of the last companies that still has a large population of employees who have worked their whole career for the company. I also think this is not going to be the case five or ten years down the road. It is a shame that business has become so ruthless and does not care about the employees any longer.
Scott Bianchi operates http://www.best-internet-bargains.com. He writes on a variety of topics. If you would like to be added to his distribution list for his new articles when they are published just send an email to articles@bestinternetbargains.com.
To Blame or Not To BlameA man can fall many times, but he isnt a failure until he begins to blame somebody else. (John Burroughs)Fire her, she set me up! John yelled quite loudly. He was incredibly angry and for good reason. However, he was really angry at the wrong person. What he was really saying was […]
Written by info on August 19th, 2007 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on ethics.