July 9, 2015- ISSN# 1545-2646
Uncommon Sense
As a kid growing up I would hear my elders talk about this thing called Common Sense. It always seemed to get associated to situations where the outcome could have been avoided if this or that would have been done. They wondered why the people involved just did not see that their approach just would not work correctly.
Today this thing of common sense has become uncommon. This ability for people to look beyond the present instant in time and interpret a future outcome and plan to avoid it just does not appear to be a skill that is broadly available.
I’m not sure if the skill is fading away or if people just don’t elect to use it.
I equate this to basic math skills. Prior to calculators, smartphones and computer based cash registers, people who worked with numbers could actually add numbers in their head. They did it quickly, accurately and had a high degree of confidence in the resulting value they came up with. Today, with out the cash register telling the person how much money to return to a paying customer who uses cash, the sales clerk would be completely lost. Even with this technology, cash drawers in many businesses are off by pennies, even dollars at the end of each work shift.
This breakdown in competent adding of numbers in ones head gradually moved away from being common to be uncommon. I find it very amusing to stand behind a senior person awaiting a cash return from a sales clerk and them snickering because the young person can’t even pull it off after the machine did all the number crunching for them. Some just love to jump in and add their “2 cents” on how many pennies, nickels and dimes to give back to make the correct change. It is usually followed by a shake of the head in disbelief.
This week as you look at incremental improvement in your business, take a look at the basic common sense items which you take for granted and see how many of them have fallen into the uncommon sense arena. Select just one of them and put in place a way to move that uncommon sense skill back into the mainstream use in your business. It might just amaze you how such a simple thing can cause significant upheaval to training and developing your future staff.
Wondering what common sense items have left your business? Give JKL Associates a call at (313) 527-7945 to discuss.
Questions or comments – email us at partners@jklassociates.com or call our Office at (313) 527-7945
Copyright – JKL Associates 2015
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