Do we need to make this distinction?

Since our ability to transfer our point-of-view to others not as a theory, but as commonsense allows them to accept our ideas with greater ease, I’d say yes, it helps to understand the distinction.

So what is theory? And what is commonsense?

We tend to associate theory with thoughts at our desks and in academic institutions; and commonsense with the field where the action lies. Hence, commonsense differs from theory by its practical essence.

Theory is what Boyle’s Law in physics is to me – I don’t know it for a fact; it’s what my schoolbook had said. That pressure and volume are inversely proportional.

Commonsense, on the other hand, is something I’ve experienced – a thing I’ve always known.

• The fact that wheels go round – We’ve all seen bottle caps, hula hoops, car wheels roll along.

• The fact that airplanes fly – We’ve always seen them fly.

• The fact that fire burns the finger – We’ve experienced it or felt the heat.

Today, these are irrefutable facts. There was a time when believing in them would have been foolish. It takes us years of seeing things with our own eyes and living with them to accept them as common sense; or be born with them – like wheels and planes.

Or experience them – like the child that must burn its finger before it stops putting the finger in the fire – or go close enough to the heat to see the commonsense.

Until then, your words of caution are just so much theory to it. And theories are meant to be tested. Or left as theories until proven right.
On the other hand, people rarely put commonsense to the test. It’s considered foolish to do so.

Inside your Domain – Outside your Domain
This fact is applicable to your domain too. Commonsense isn’t universal. Let’s say you are a professional in marketing, finance, human resource, operations. Or a writer, painter, doctor, musician.

Your domain understanding is full of commonsense to you since you’ve experienced it, lived with it. It is theory to others because they haven’t lived with it.

If you don’t pause a moment to understand this fact, it becomes a battlefield of you vs them. Inside your domain vs outside your domain.
Understanding this helps you create a bridge.

So the next time you try to convince your boss, colleague, daughter or husband about the commonsense involved in your point-of-view, step back a moment. And ask yourself, “Is this commonsense to them?

Now ask yourself a second question, how do you convince them of the validity of your commonsense within your domain? Flip it and ask yourself, when would you believe a new thing as commonsense?

Going through the experience is a long, expensive, time-consuming task and all you have is a short half hour or a presentation in which to take them through it. The only significant way is to experience it vicariously – with irrefutable examples, and numbers that cannot be ignored; not as an opinion. It helps us transfer our own experience to others in an acceptable form.

Proving the Commonsense
The acceptance comes about when your examples and imagery are –

1. Tangible – If the results are hard to ignore

2. Immediate – The effect is immediate and

3. Consistent – I can see it happening time after time.

If the effect takes years to show up, if it’s as intangible as emotions, and if it lacks in consistency, there’s a high probability it will not become commonsense to the other.

So pick up tangible, immediate, consistent examples and show the commonsense through them.

But, will others sense the common sense once you’ve made this effort?
Maybe yes. But in at least half the instances, maybe not.

Remember that it’s nothing against you, your knowledge or your capability. More likely than not, it is discarded if it threatens their thinking – if it challenges rather than confirms their thinking.

That’s the theme for the next post.