Why Common Sense is Uncommon

I'm going through a bunch of old papers since I have some free time this week.  One of the things that I came across were some notes from 18 months ago regarding a book I thought would be interesting to write.  The working title at the time was "Why Common Sense Is Uncommon" or "Why Common Sense Isn't Common".  I don't want to lose the notes so I'm posting them here in case I ever decide to return to this project.

• Define "common sense" - likely lots of definitions of common sense and lots of different opinions regarding what it would be in a given situation
• Why overriding parental instincts?
• Why a bunch of 150 IQ people in a room make a 75 IQ decision?
• Why we make things harder / more complicated than they need to be?
• Why have we taken common sense or judgement out of a lot of processes or decisions? Whose definition of common sense?
• IQ vs EQ
• Why do we question our own judgement?
• Peer pressure, keeping up with others, herd mentality
• Why do we buy things we know we can't afford?
• Why do we do things that we know going into it will end badly?
• Why does something seem totally obvious and "common sense" to one person but not to others?
• How can someone be really smart but lack common sense?
• Find examples of big and small decisions / situations where common sense didn't prevail
• Common sense guide to X
• Why is it that a lot of management / business frameworks / books seem obvious / common sense when we see them but they weren't obvious before that?
• Why isn't common sense common practice?
• Occam's razor - simplest solution is usually the right one
• Are there situations where a common sense approach / solution doesn't make sense?
• Why do we make things more complicated than they need to be by making decisions by committee? Like big family trying to decide what to do. No one wants to make the decision so no decision is made or it's an amalgamation of everyone's ideas. Trying to please too many people.
• Role of "following one's instincts" or "listening to one's gut" - when does it make sense, when can it get us into trouble and how do we know the signal is coming in clear vs our minds taking over and overriding our instinct / gut
• Even if something is obvious or common sense, why don't we do it? Are we worried about conflict (like firing someone or changing their role? Are we worried about not having enough data or evidence to back up our decision if it goes bad?
• Steve delC - a good theory is one that you attempt to disprove and can't 

As I read back over these notes, this still seems like it would make for a good book.  I'd be interested in what others think.  Also, if someone takes this idea and turns it into a book before I can, please do me two favors: (1) make the book good and (2) mention me in the acknowledgments.

Who's Awesome?

Someone at work sent this image around as part of a larger message. Wanted to keep it for future reference. =)

Old Farmer Advice

A co-worker sent this to me recently. I especially like "If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin'."

Old Farmer's Advice:
Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight and bull-strong.
Keep skunks and bankers at a distance.
Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.
A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor.
Words that soak into your ears are whispered...not yelled.
Meanness don't jes' happen overnight.
Forgive your enemies; it messes up their heads.
Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you.
It don't take a very big person to carry a grudge.
You cannot unsay a cruel word.
Every path has a few puddles.
When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.
The best sermons are lived, not preached.
Most of the stuff people worry about ain't never gonna happen anyway.
Don 't judge folks by their relatives.
Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
Live a good, honorable life.. Then when you get older and think back, you'll enjoy it a second time.
Don 't interfere with somethin' that ain't bothering you none.
Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a Rain dance.
If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin'.
Sometimes you get, and sometimes you get got.
The biggest troublemaker you'll probably ever have to deal with, watches you from the mirror every mornin'.
Always drink upstream from the herd.
Good judgment comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from bad judgment.
Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin' it back in.
If you get to thinkin' you're a person of some influence, try orderin' somebody else's dog around.
Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God.
Don't pick a fight with an old man. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.

Stopwatch application

The other day at work, we had to do a presentation in a fixed amount of time.  As part of the practice sessions for the presentation, we used this stopwatch application. Posting it here in case I need it in the future or in case others are interested.

Ya right!

Sometimes I get down on things but it's important to keep perspective, remember our blessings, and realize that things could be way worse.  Here's a humorous cartoon that a co-worker that sent me as a reminder.

Seldom right but never in doubt

Our CEO at work has a great saying. He says that there are some people who are "seldom right but never in doubt". Certainly, self-confidence is important. But sometimes it can hold us back from approaching situations with an open-mind, listening attentively, and being willing to say "I don't know" or "I trust your opinion on this more than mine".

What does $1 trillion look like?

A little while ago, my brother-in-law DE posted me to this interesting analysis that helps put into perspective what $1 trillion (i.e., the rough size of our stimulus package) looks like. Scary stuff.

Made simple

I love presentations or videos that can take a subject that is complicated or intimidating and blow it down into terms that are easy to understand and approachable. Here is one such video that my brother-in-law DE sent me awhile back regarding the credit crisis.



Here is a different video that explains what to expect when attending a Mormon church service.

In general, I'm trying to get better at simplifying what I say and presenting in a way that gets to the essence of the topic but doesn't overwhelm people with additional information that they don't need.

Lou Holtz Quotes

I just discovered this quote by Lou Holtz: "When all is said and done, more is said than done." So very true.

Facebook Is for Old People

There's a funny article in the February 23, 2009 issue of Time magazine called "Facebook Is for Old People" (see PDF).  I've recently gotten into using Facebook and a lot of people my age use it too.  I've found it a pretty good way to (at least superficially) keep in touch with people and know what they're up to.  It's also fun for photos and exercises like this.

Quote of the day

Not sure if any of you have noticed the quote of the day widget I added to my blog a little while ago.  If not, scroll down a bit and look on the left side of the page.  Today's quote was great: "Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday" - Proverb.  Love it.

Bengali bag

Yesterday, AJ and I went up to Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. I backed some supplies and put them in a bag I brought home from India (see photo to the right). The writing on the bag is in Bengali - one of the many languages spoken in India. While I was pushing AJ on the swing at the large children's playground, I looked down at the bag and realized that most people wouldn't recognize the writing as Bengali. Without knowing better, they might have thought the writing was Arabic and assume that I was Muslim - I am an International Everyman after all (see prior post). All of a sudden, I became very self-conscious of what people might be thinking and kept expecting parents to pull their children away from me as if I were a terrorist. That feeling persisted for the rest of the time we were at Golden Gate Park - a couple of hours. I'm not proud of my response and, as far as I could tell, no one noticed the bag or thought anything of it if they did. But it did give me some small appreciation for what it must feel like to be a victim of racial profiling and the assumptions people sometimes make based on little or no information.

Lunch Bag Art

A friend of mine just turned me on to a very cool site - Lunch Bag Art.  Apparently this guy makes a new bag each day for his kids during his lunch break.  Very cool to look through all the designs.  Too bad I don't have this talent but hopefully I can find other special things to do for my kids over time.

British Idol (Punjabi Style)

This is a great video that my mother pointed me to - Michael Jackson meets Bollywood is the best way to describe it.

This video is their first performance on the show.  They later went on to the semifinals (see video) and the finals (see video).

Paul Potts

This is a really cool video.  Made me tear up a bit to see how well he performed.

Paul went on to win the competition and now even has a CD of his own (see his official site).  Dreams really do come true sometimes.

Footprints in the world

I've started using Facebook a lot recently.  It's a good social networking site and has been a fun way to at least minimally keep in touch with people and know what they're up to.  If you also use Facebook and want to link up, send me an email.

Today, someone I know posted this comment: "wonders: Is time deterministic and inevitable, or quanticized and uncertain?"  To which, someone else responded: "Some people choose to make no footprint in the world. Don't be that guy."  I don't fully follow the original question but really liked the response and wanted to keep it for the future.  Regardless of where life takes me and whether I succeed or fail in the things that I attempt to do, I hope I will be able to look back on my life and say that I made a footprint in the world (see prior post).

Wikipedia

I just made a financial donation to Wikipedia so they can continue to fund their operations.  I'm sure all (or at least many) of you have used Wikipedia at some point.  It's a great resource - especially for scientific information - and I use it often.  To the extent possible, I hope you will support this common good as well.

Cowboy Logic

My mother-in-law shared this funny story with me:

A cowboy was herding his herd in a remote pasture when suddenly a brand-new BMW advanced out of a dust cloud towards him.

The driver, a young man in a Brioni suit, Gucci shoes, Ray Ban sunglasses and YSL tie, leans out the window and asks the cowboy, "If I tell you exactly how many cows and calves you have in your herd, will you give me a calf?"

The cowboy looks at the man, obviously a yuppie, then looks at his peacefully grazing herd and calmly answers, "Sure. Why not?"  The yuppie parks his car, whips out his Dell notebook computer,  connects it to his AT&T cell phone, surfs to a NASA page on the  Internet, where he calls up a GPS satellite navigation system to get an  exact fix on his location which he then feeds to another NASA satellite  that scans the area in an ultra-high-resolution photo. The young man then opens the digital photo in Adobe Photoshop and exports it to an image processing facility in Hamburg, Germany.

Within seconds, he receives an email on his Palm Pilot that the image has been processed and the data stored. He then accesses a MS-SQL database through an ODBC connected Exce spreadsheet with hundreds of complex formulas. He uploads all of this data via an email on his

Blackberry and, after a few minutes, receives a response.

Finally, he prints out a full-color, 150-page report on his hi-tech, miniaturized HP LaserJet printer and finally turns to the cowboy and says, "You have exactly 1586 cows and calves."  "That's right. Well, I guess you can take one of my calves," says the  cowboy.

He watches the young man select one of the animals and looks on amused as the young man stuffs it into the trunk of his car.

Then the cowboy says to the young man, "Hey, if I can tell you exactly what your business is, will you give me back my calf?"  The young man thinks about it for a second and then says, "Okay, why  not?"

"You're a consultant." says the cowboy.

"Wow! That's correct," says the yuppie, "but how did you guess that?"

"No guessing required." answered the cowboy. "You showed up here even though nobody called you; you want to get paid for an answer I already knew, to a question I never asked; and you don't know anything about my business...  ...Now give me back my dog."

I find this extra-amusing since my brother is interviewing with management consulting firms right now.  Good luck, brother!  Perhaps your first case assignment will be on a cattle ranch.  =)

LIFE photo archive

I love old photos.  So I think it's super-cool that there is now a LIFE photo archive hosted by Google.  Take a look around.  There are lots of neat photos posted there.

Our Tax System Explained: Bar Stool Economics

A co-worker of mine forwarded this "essay" to me by David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D., Professor of Economics at the University of Georgia.

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

• The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
• The fifth would pay $1.
• The sixth would pay $3.
• The seventh would pay $7.
• The eighth would pay $12.
• The ninth would pay $18.
• The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that's what they decided to do. The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. 'Since you are all such good customers,' he said, 'I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20.' Drinks for the ten now cost just $80. The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his fair share?' They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay. And so:

• The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
• The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
• The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
• The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
• The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
• The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings. 'I only got a dollar out of the $20,'declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man,' but he got $10!' 'Yeah, that's right,' exclaimed the fifth man. 'I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than I got' 'That's true!!' shouted the seventh man. 'Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!' 'Wait a minute,' yelled the first four men in unison. 'We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!' The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up. The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill! And that, ladies and gentlemen, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy,and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

I'm not sure that I totally agree with the conclusions but it's an interesting perspective and certainly one way of discussing this topic that made some intuitive sense to me.