on May 1, 2018My mother used to say that the thing about common sense is...it's not that common. One hopes she wasn't pointing the finger at me when she said it, but I've had moments that make me suspect I wasn't far from her thoughts. Still for me common sense has another strand. Its that simplicity of thought that makes you say to yourself 'well that's obvious'.
What I have learned this week and I wonder if learned is the right word because it seems obvious, is that the simplest of ideas and techniques that are the epitome of common sense can bring amazing results, when applied in a new context.
I spent two days of last week on the Value Negotiation training. None of it was very difficult much of it was 'common sense' but it was how it was applied and the context that makes it genius. Its about using the simplest of ideas and applying them to a modern challenge. The smarts here is identifying change and discovering how to meet the challenges its brings. Not just with complex and technical solutions but also with the some very simple techniques applied in the right way. Now I am sure there is a lot of science behind all of this and I don't want to appear to trivialise but something that is instantly understandable and easy to buy into, I find compelling.
So for me its about a realignment of comment sense practices and simple ideas to make a difference. When you get a chance to absorb the Value Negotiation material and you will, I would be interested in your thoughts. If you are interested and want to discuss, give me a call.
Steve
Then again, you do have those products in the supermarket that they simply put on the "May contain nuts" just to cover themselves even though no nuts ever came anywhere near them at all!
Doing a quick look online, one of the interesting examples was with Alpro - who make a series of nut and non-nut (soy) based drinks in the UK. They used to keep their entire manufacturing separate so that all of their almond milk was on one site and all of their soy milk was at another in a different part of the country. In combining the two sites (helped out with saving costs around the logistics of distribution) they then had to adjust their labels so that they now contained the warning. It was easier (from a "lawyer" PoV) to have the label than it was having the risk with both manufacturing plants nearby so that if the "wind blew in the wrong direction" that there could be a possibility of contamination - no matter how remote.
So, I suppose that in compromising on one thing then you end up compromising on another...