A friend sent me a copy of an email that’s been around the web since 1998 which reminded me of an excellent point. This mail started out as a blog post and has been excerpted and rewritten several times and it deals with the topic of common sense. No, it has nothing to do with Thomas Paine (although his pamphlet would make great reading in today’s climate). Instead, it has to do with sound judgment and that’s what triggered my thought.Here is how the note begins:
Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:
- Knowing when to come in out of the rain;
- Why the early bird gets the worm;
- Life isn’t always fair;
- and maybe it was my fault.
It goes on to give several real-world examples of what killed her friend.
It’s amazing to me how when we step back from the situation of the moment and try to make our decisions based on common sense how much better our decision-making becomes. For example, a lot of companies are choosing to handle user privacy in a way that common sense should tell them is offensive and wrong. Customer service agents are given scripts that are guaranteed to anger callers when common sense tells us that someday we may be the one calling for help. Finally, as we saw last week, common sense should tell us that yelling at one another does little to fix our problems and yet politicians and various media entities do just that as we vote with our ballots and our eyeballs to let it continue.
One of the best things about consulting is that I can step back from specific business decisions and make recommendations as an outsider. I am less encumbered by personal or corporate politics and give advice based on what’s best for my client as well as their customers and partners. It’s a perspective that, having been there, I know might get lost in the process when one is trying to satisfy sometimes conflicting internal goals but if we lose sight of common sense, I’m not sure we’re doing our best work.
Next time you have to make a tough business decision, try using common sense. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised out much easier and better it makes the outcomes. Make sense?
Consult Keith 