Common sense is defined by your customer

Imagine you meet me in a train and I would ask you to define common sense. How would you answer? Let’s assume you take on the challenge. Most likely you would greet my request at first with silence. You may need some time to realise that defining common sense is not common at all. Then hopefully you are willing to give me a very personal definition for ‘common sense’.
And while we pass landscapes in our cabin that keeps us on track, we dive deeper into the subject matter by discussing the examples have you used in order to define common sense.

Your common sense definition could be based on events in every day life, such as brushing your teeth or standing in line.
Maybe you use articles in today’s newspaper, such as that stubborn dictator reluctant to step aside and trigger a civil war.
It could even become philosophical and focus on topics such as justice, knowledge and truth.
Whatever you use as the cornerstones for your common sense definition, your response will be highly valuable for me.
Please allow me to explain why.

I have been pondering about the definition of common sense and it remains fluid. The more people I ask, the more insights I receive and the more complex it becomes to define an overall definition. But slowly a common denominator surfaces when collecting individual views.

Most people would translate the word common with global. But only a few examples associated to common sense could get the label of global common sense. When acknowledging that cultural influences play a significant part, then the word common refers to groups of people sharing the same beliefs. So what is considered common sense within Europe may not be acknowledged as such in other parts of the world. Apart from geographical differences, employees all around the world would offer a different common sense definition when compared to entrepreneurs.
So common sense could be approached as a set of beliefs shared by a specific group of people.

Most people would associate the word sense with observation. But that is quite a passive approach. We can all resort to watch the world go by, but then we do not play a role within a changing society. Realise what is currently considered common sense today may not fit the popular beliefs a few decades ago. Therefore it is important to embrace the thought that time changes they way we look at things. And change is not achieved by just observing. When we sense that something is not right we need to take action. The question is whether you are going to be an innovator or a follower.
So common sense changes over time.

Now, how does a common sense consultant define common sense?
When we can agree that common sense relates to specific groups of people sharing similar beliefs at a particular moment in time, then the common sense consultant has only one source to unravel the mystery of common sense: the customer.
When the common sense consultant takes the effort to understand the ever changing needs of the customer, then the previously blank canvas representing common sense becomes and remains an up-to-date, vibrant, colourful and continuous desirable masterpiece.

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