Why common sense is hard to find

Common sense is a practical view and approach to a situation. It is how we deal with issues and problems, how we manage our own thoughts, beliefs, attitudes and how we cope with each other.

“Common sense is not so common.” ― Voltaire, A Pocket Philosophical Dictionary

But common sense in the workplace is not just an issue for me, but for many bosses, colleagues and business leaders. Getting to the root of things, to ensure that you minimize over managing staff or bringing to their attention a "lack of common sense".

It's a common problem for TYPE - A personalities because we "expect" everyone to be like us - and then get frustrated when people miss the little things that make perfect sense to us.

I do think common sense is a two-way street. You have to work with employees to ensure that they have  been trained throughly in every step of their job, so that there is no excuse, and make sure it is practiced over and over again. Give them training exercises that push them to think outside the box and solve problems.

“Things do not change; we change.” ― Henry David Thoreau

But common sense is much more than problem solving.  It also involves taking a sensible perspective, having functional attitudes and beliefs,  being able to tackle a range of problems, getting on with people when it matters, grasping anothers’ perspective, knowing and using emotions appropriately, not losing sight of the goal, being flexible and adaptable with a sufficient range of behaviours to match the job.

“Don't find fault, find a remedy; anybody can complain” ― Henry Ford

Is there an answer to this conundrum? I am not so sure that there is an answer, and like many of my counterparts I believe that time can be the best solution for those who may lack it in their earlier lives, but through experience and a few 'hard knocks', find that they learn how to improve their ability to use common sense in a variety of different situations.

“Common sense is the most widely shared commodity in the world, for every man is convinced that he is well supplied with it.” ― René Descartes

Never one to let things fall to the way-side, I am now going to start working on my own techniques of coaching staff how to use common sense in all aspects of life and think before they act. Let's see how I go.