Know when it’s time to be quiet and let a deal happen
Common sense isn’t all that common – that’s as true now as it was when French philosopher Voltaire said so a few hundred years ago.
And unfortunately, there’s no app for that, says Michael Feuer, co-founder and former chief executive of Office-Max, because common sense is something no one in the business world can afford to be without.
“The main reason to develop your own common sense and to make sure those you work with have it is that its presence covers a multitude of sins,” notes Feuer, author of The Benevolent Dictator: Empower Your Employees, Build Your Business, and Outwit the Competition (Wiley, 2011).
A lack of common sense can lead to angry investors, mistreated customers and bad decisions, says Feuer, who offers these five essential examples of common sense: 1. Count to 10 before hitting “send”: Under the increasing weight of electronic communication, it’s easy to fire off a nasty email to impress a point on someone who doesn’t seem to “get it.”
