The Death of Common Sense
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
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Written by info on August 19th, 2007 with
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