Aug 10, 2016

So said the French philosopher Voltaire, in 1764. Seems it has been the topic of discussion for hundreds of years! Many of us use the phrase “common sense” in regard to others, usually deploring the lack of it! We say things like “Why didn’t so-and-so do X? Surely it’s just common sense!” Perhaps there is also a feeling that common sense implies that you don’t have to be told; you should know.

One take on common sense is that it is “a basic ability to perceive, understand, and judge things, which is shared by ("common to") nearly all people and can reasonably be expected of nearly all people without any need for debate. (Van Holthoorn & Olson1987) And herein lies the problem I think; everyone perceives differently, therefore sense is not so common, but rather individualised. Depending on the culture within which you operate, (in your organisation, or your nationality etc.) what makes sense in one arena, may not make sense in another. For example, in a typical organisation in Australia, we might expect that if you don’t know something, you would ask. For us, that would be common sense. However, in another culture that might be frowned upon, because it may be contrary to the norms of that culture.

What are some of the things that we can do to inject more common sense into our business?

1. Make sure that every employee “perceives, understands and judges” their role in the big picture of the company. If they don’t understand how the organisation is doing financially, for example, they may fail to understand the consequences of their actions; there is no one common communication and every section, or tier, of the organisation has a different sense of what should be common knowledge.


2. Talk about your expectations with clarity. We don’t communicate by osmosis and therefore we need to ensure that all parties are able to discuss and confirm their understanding. Asking questions and using simple, clear and specific words helps make sense more commonly understood. As Cicero put it, use the “language of everyday life and the usage approved by the sense of the community".


3. Don’t confuse common sense and intelligence. Just because someone hasn’t used common sense from your perspective, doesn’t make them unintelligent; it’s possible that they behaved in a way that would have made perfect sense in another cultural setting – perhaps a previous workplace, or circumstance.


4. Common sense also implies that you are interacting with your (work) community and understand the unwritten contributions you all need to make. Is someone under the pump at work? Can you help? Can you contribute ideas to help your organisation thrive? Common sense should tell you that you are part of the fabric of that success.


5. Double check your facts, be knowledgeable about your business and add value to your customers. Customer service is vital because if we can employ common sense to those who are the source of our business, we get repeat business as well as growing our reputation. For example, customers like accurate and helpful advice; they like friendly and swift service – it’s an obvious and reasonable expectation, right?

In conclusion, I’d like us to think carefully about our “perceptions, understanding and judgement” before we assume that someone hasn’t shown common sense. Can we say with absolute certainty that we have done our bit to make our expectations “common”? It seems as though common sense may require some effort and is still a work in progress.