I hear this one quite a bit: Kids today have no common sense.
I hear this one in organizations: Some of my new employees have no common sense whatsoever.
You’re probably nodding in agreement now.
But have you ever thought about what common sense actually is?
It comes down to a matter of SKILL vs. WILL.
At the time of this writing, our two children are 21 and 19. Our son didn’t know how to properly write a check. Our daughter, who agreed to address my monthly networking letters, didn’t know how to place the return address label or stamp.
No common sense?
Hardly. Our kids (yeah bragging now) are incredibly smart with high GPA in college. Our son is now an Area Manager at a huge company with 80 direct reports. Our daughter is studying business in college.
But kids today don’t write letters or write out checks. They send texts and pay with apps. It’s only old geezers like me that write checks by hand and still use old-fashioned snail mail.
Maybe it’s me who has no common sense?
Every organization has established norms. Expectations. Rules that we operate by. It could be the way we answer phones, send emails, and communicate with each other. You learn them as you go. Sometimes you’ll be told. When you know, you’re expected to comply.
But then there are those new, often younger employees. They don’t seem to fit in. They don’t communicate like the rest of the team.
So we generalize.
Then we stereotype.
And then, the diagnosis: Young people today have no common sense.
And a qualifier from another wise co-worker: You know, common sense is not always common practice.
Bullshit.
How about a more reasoned approach?
Teach the common accepted practices. Then hold people accountable to them.
Here is how we answer the phone.
Here is how we send email.
Here is how we communicate in meetings.
Here is how we organize our workspaces.
Now the common sense has been communicated. The SKILL part is done.
But, when the common sense is not being done after it’s been communicated, it becomes a problem of WILL. Will problems are handled with motivation and discipline.
So rather than bitch and complain that people don’t have common sense anymore, ask yourself if somebody took the time to teach the common sense. If not, maybe you should.
Sounds like a common-sense approach to me.
What do you think?
