The Risks of Invoking Common Sense

Appealing to common sense tends to demonstrate flawed critical thinking in several ways:

It discounts the need for nuanced analysis. Most modern challenges involve layers of technological, social, political complexity. Surface logic rarely suffices. We must be willing to research issues from many lenses.

It implies dissenters lack basic intelligence. Dismissing those who see things differently hinders exchange of ideas and accumulation of wisdom. Diverse insight propels understanding.

It conceals contradictions and hypocrisy. So-called "common sense" often crumbles under scrutiny. For instance, people may claim everyone knows governments can't manage healthcare efficiently while ignoring how well Medicare works.

It breeds arrogant close-mindedness. Once people believe they have all the answers, cognitive biases take over and actual learning stops. Confirmation bias renders leaders deaf to anything outside their worldview.

It justifies the status quo. Improving any system requires questioning existing norms and power structures. Common sense rationales defend upholding current conditions.

Cultivating Intellectual Humility

The world is complex, yet individual human brains are limited in perspective. As ethicist John Lachs noted, true wisdom requires acknowledging that we cannot see the whole picture nor have all the answers on our own.

Intellectually humble leaders therefore cultivate perpetual curiosity and avoid rigid certainty. Rather than defaulting to "common sense", they:

Question underlying assumptions and conventional thinking instead of blindly accepting them

Earnestly invite debate and challenge from diverse perspectives outside their bubbles

Actively listen to different views without judgment or defensiveness

Take time to deeply analyze root causes of issues, not just symptoms and superficial perspectives

Thoroughly consider potential pitfalls and unintended consequences before acting

View challenges as opportunities to learn something new and improve rather than reinforce the status quo

Beyond Either/Or Thinking

Many debates framed in terms of common sense are actually complex issues with multiple reasonable perspectives. Leaders who recognize reality's nuance are cautious about absolutist rhetoric.

For instance, pragmatic leaders acknowledge free market capitalism has benefits like spurring innovation, and flaws like exacerbating inequality. Truth incorporates paradox.

Seeking Inclusive Wisdom

True progress depends on often questioning the status quo, humbly hearing those most impacted by issues, and synthesizing the best collective thinking available. Blind allegiance to "common sense" limits potential. Pursuing truth requires nuance, inclusion and perpetual humility.

To explore leading with more inclusive wisdom, please don't hesitate to reach out. Seeking multiple lenses always brings complex realities into sharper focus. The path of lifelong learning never ends.

“Common sense” has a deceptively comforting ring, evoking accumulated wisdom gleaned from lived experience and “simpler times.” But in truth, relying solely on common sense as your compass often leads to dangerously poor judgments and assumptions. While personal experiences provide one useful data point, true wisdom integrates broad, diverse perspectives.

The Flawed Notion of “Common” Sense

So-called common sense suggests judgments based on what seems obvious and self-evident from your specific background and limited life observations. But it suffers from severe shortcomings:

It presumes that most people share your singular views, which is rarely the case in a complex world. In reality, different vantage points yield entirely different “common sense” conclusions.
It recklessly extrapolates universal truths about issues from your own highly limited, subjective experiences and anecdotal information. There are typically exceptions.
It conveniently aligns with your inherent confirmation biases that favor facts conforming to your existing worldview and discount contradicting evidence.
It often lacks broader contextual facts, nuance, alternate hypotheses, and empirical testing required to determine causality versus correlation.
It frequently conflicts with scientific consensus, rigorous data analysis, and subject matter expertise that reveal more complex dynamics.

Relying solely on “common sense” dangerously neglects to reality test your assumptions and mental models against alternative explanations. It breeds false confidence in gut reactions and facilitates decisions founded on intellectual quicksand.

Cultivating Broader, Evidence-Based Perspective

The attached Psychology Today article by Jim Taylor Ph.D. neatly encapsulates the inherent need to move beyond “common sense” alone if leaders wish to form accurate, nuanced perspectives. Some key principles include:

Maintain an open, growth-oriented mindset willing to reach conclusions that may contradict your pre-existing hunches, assumptions or expectations. Don’t let bias limit input.
Proactively hypothesize multiple, alternative explanations for outcomes, not just those you intuitively favor or wish to be true. Welcome having your beliefs constructively challenged.
Seek out and collect a large, highly diverse sample of perspectives, data points and information. Don’t just ask those who you already know share all of your current views and biases.
Commit to analyzing any information you receive completely objectively, not just selectively looking for data to affirm your preliminary opinions. Let facts guide conclusions, not the reverse.
Draw reasoned conclusions predicated on synthesizing insights from a rigorous, inclusive inquiry process, not emotion, convention or groupthink.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-power-prime/201107/common-sense-is-neither-common-nor-sense

True Wisdom Requires Integrating Broad Inputs

While your past experiences and observations provide one very useful vantage point, true wisdom integrates a mosaic of many different sources of data, ideation, and expertise before reaching conclusions or choosing courses of action. Any leader who dismissively claims “common sense” alone is sufficient reveals their own profound intellectual limitations.

Lasting progress requires humility about how much you don’t know, comfort with ambiguity, intellectual curiosity about different worldviews, and skill synthesizing diverse perspectives - abilities executive coaching can directly strengthen. Please don't hesitate to reach out if you need any support combating the immense perils of relying solely on “common sense” as a decision-making guide. Our shared growth depends on moving far beyond the gaps and biases inherent in any one person’s subjective life experience. A bigger world awaits.

The False Appeal of "Common Sense"