Sometimes, Common Sense is Not Common

The word "common sense" sounds so straightforward and simple. Everyone knows what it means, and no one with the right frame of mind will say they lack common sense. In fact, they'll say others don't have common sense.

Here's the thing - it's also common sense that we humans always think too highly of ourselves and overestimate things we thought were simple.

Classic example: study hard, get good grades, then you'll find your dream job where you can enjoy a mug of beer after office hours at your favorite pub.

I had that picture painted very clearly when I was young. But that never happened. Real life had other plans - like bills that don't care about your dream job, and the reality that most "dream jobs" are just regular jobs with better marketing.

The Office Theater

Now, back to the common sense topic. Walk into any office and you'll witness the daily theater of "common sense" in action.

It's supposedly common sense to argue about who's right and who doesn't follow the SOP (Standard Operating Procedures). We'll spend 3 hours in meetings debating whether a 5-minute task is BAU (Business As Usual) or an ad-hoc request. Everyone becomes a fucking detective, investigating who should own what, when the customer is literally waiting for an answer.

Meanwhile, the dude who just does the work without the drama? They're labeled as "not following process."

The Real Question

Or is it common sense to just do our job when we damn well know it needs to be done?

I've seen teams collapse because everyone was too busy being "right" instead of being useful. The guy who fixes the server at 2 AM doesn't give a shit about your process documentation - he cares about keeping the lights on. The girl who still performs her excel magic show during her maternity leave (who happens to get labeled as "the girl that was pregnant") doesn't do it for the recognition - she does it because she knows the project will die without her input.

But here's where it gets interesting: the same people who complain about "lack of common sense" are often the ones creating systems so complicated that common sense becomes uncommon.

Bottom Line

We've turned simple decisions into committee discussions. We've made helping a colleague a political calculation. We've convinced ourselves that following process is more important than solving problems.

Sometimes, common sense is not common. And sometimes, we're the reason why.