I used to regularly advocate for common sense ideas. Then I read a book that completely changed my perspective.
It opened with this line:
Webster defines common sense as “the unreflective opinions of ordinary people.”
Now alarm bells go off in my head every time I hear that phrase.
It’s everywhere:
- Politicians in both parties advocate for “common sense” reform — even when their proposals violate our constitutional rights.
- Managers defend their new policies as, “It’s just common sense.”
- People say things like, “We just need a little more common sense in this world,” and then they nod along in agreement to their own statement.
I’ve come to realize two things:
People who defend their views as common sense are often offering the best argument they have. They don’t have a stronger argument readily available or they would use it.
Unfortunately, when some people defend their views as common sense, what they’re really saying is, “You’re not allowed to disagree with me on this — even if I’m wrong.”
The latter implication is especially worrisome when it comes from people in positions of authority, as power dynamics discourage employees from speaking up, even when they have the ability to prevent the company from making a costly mistake.
Why common sense is hurting your organization
In Bringing Out the Best in People, Aubrey Daniels makes this case:
Can organizations survive on management strategies based on the unreflective opinions of its leaders? No! Unreflective opinions are based on unanalyzed experience.
Commonsense knowledge is acquired in ordinary business and living, while scientific knowledge must be pursued deliberately and systematically. No special effort is required to obtain common sense. As a matter of fact, you can’t stop it. It occurs just from the fact we are alive. No wonder it’s so plentiful. However, scientific knowledge requires a special effort to acquire.
Commonsense knowledge is individual; scientific knowledge is universal.
Commonsense knowledge accepts the obvious; scientific knowledge questions the obvious.
Common sense always says, “Of course,” whereas science asks, “Why?”
Commonsense knowledge is vague; scientific knowledge is precise.
Common sense cannot be counted on to produce consistent results; application of scientific knowledge yields the same results every time.
Common sense is gained through uncontrolled experience; scientific knowledge is gained through controlled experiment.
A former boss had me read this book in 2019, and it laid the foundation for my subsequent leadership journey. I highly recommend it to anyone in management roles.
Start noticing when people use this phrase, and I bet you’ll be intrigued by what you find.