Bud Bilanich | The Common Sense Guy

More on Will Rogers and Common Sense

Tomorrow, Saturday, November 4, is Use Your Common Sense Day.  As I’ve said here before, I chose November 4 as Use Your Common Sense Day because it is Will Rogers’ birthday.  One of his most famous sayings is “common sense ain’t all that common”. In yesterday’s post, I mentioned that I am on a crusade to change that.

Yesterday, I came across a CNN.com post by Willie Nelson, legendary American country music singer and songwriter entitled “We Have a Lot to Learn From Horses”.  Mr. Nelson began the post with this quote:

• Will Rogers said, "You know horses are smarter than people. You never heard of a horse going broke betting on people."

More common sense from Will Rogers – this time on the long term folly of gambling. 

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not above the occasional friendly bet on an American Football game, especially when one of my favorite teams is involved (actually, I now owe one of my friends lunch because of the outcome of the West Virginia -- Louisville college football game last night).  And, I like to play black jack when I find myself in a place with a casino. 

That’s why I like Mr. Rogers.  He had a knack for presenting common sense advice in a humorous manner that helped him get his points across.  You can find some of his more well known quotes at www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Will_Rogers.

Here’s a couple that I really like:

• On tolerance -- “Everybody is ignorant, only on different subjects.”
• On work life balance – “Half our life is spent trying to find something to do with the time we have rushed through life trying to save.”
• On empathy – “I never met a man I didn’t like.”
• On war – “You can’t say that civilization doesn’t advance.  In every war, they kill you in a new way.”
• On people and humor – “An onion can make people cry, but there’s never been a vegetable that can make them laugh.”
• On work – “Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.”
• On simplicity – “Nothing you can’t spell will ever work.”
• On ethics – “Live in such a way that you would not be ashamed to sell your parrot to the town gossip.”
• On rumor – “Rumor travels faster, but it doesn’t stay put as long as the truth.”

I suggest that you think about these quotes – especially tomorrow, Common Sense Day, decide which ones appeal to you, and then do something to put their common sense to work in your life.

By the way, Alan, a.k.a. Success Warrior, has made some interesting comments on my Use Your Common Sense Day posts.

• I am going to work on my website which I have been putting off for a couple of months.  It's something that I know I need to do but have put other things ahead of it on my to-do list.  Time to bump it to the head of the line.
• The thing I see about working on weakness and strength is this.  You can put a whole lot of effort into working on a weakness and make very little progress.  You can put a little bit of effort into a strength and make great strides.  Strides big enough to not only compensate for your weakness but completely overshadow them.  For me the common sense choice is to delegate tasks that fall in my weak areas and put my effort into my strengths.

Thanks for the common sense advice, Alan. 

That’s it for today.  Thanks for reading.  Remember to use your common sense on Saturday, November 4 – Use Your Common Sense Day – and everyday.

Log on to my website www.BudBilanich.com for more common sense.  Check out my other blogs: www.CareerSuperStar.com for common sense advice on becoming the life and career star you are meant to be; and www.CommonSenseDay.com to learn more about Use Your Common Sense Day -- November 4, and to read stories of common sense in action.

I’ll see you around the web, and at Alex’s Lemonade Stand.

Bud

Common Sense Day, part 2

Arun, from www.RentaBlogger.com posted this comment to my post on Use Your Common Sense Day. 

• Hi Bud
  You are doing a cool thing :)
  Listening to your common sense on even one day can make a small change in your life - and if repeated a few times, it can snowball into a huge impact.
  My best wishes to you and a commitment - I will also be going out and exercising on Saturday plus spending a decent amount of time with the kids.
  Thanks for reminding me!

Thanks, Arun.  You’ve gotten into the spirit of Use Your Common Sense Day; doing something that you know you should do, but don’t – for whatever reasons.  If you send me your snail mail address, I will send you a one of my books – whichever one you choose. 

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, I decided to create Use Your Common Sense Day because I find that too many people don’t apply their common sense in business and in life.  I am on a crusade to get people to actually use their common sense. 

Thomas Edison once said “many people miss opportunity because it comes dressed in overalls and looks like work”.  The same is true of common sense. Most people know what to do in most situations, their common sense tells them. But they don’t follow their common sense because it’s too hard, too time consuming, they think they’ll upset someone, or for any number of other reasons.

None of these are good reasons for not using your common sense. I hope that at least once a year, on November 4, people will use their common sense, no matter how difficult it might seem to be to do so.

The other day, I came across a quote from Marcus Buckingham, well known author of First Break All the Rules and other leadership best sellers. 

• “Weakness fixing might prevent failure, but strength building leads to excellence.”

There’s some real common sense in this statement.  All too often, we focus on fixing weaknesses – in ourselves and others – instead of focusing on, and building on our strengths.  Mr. Buckingham has hit the nail on the head.  If you fix weaknesses, you are likely to prevent failure.  However, on the other hand, if you identify strengths – in yourself and others – and nurture and grow these strengths, you will do better in the long run.

This advice is contrary to a lot of what we see in business.  For example, the VP of Manufacturing for one of my client companies has a standing goal for each of his plant managers: identify the biggest customer service problem and quality problem from the previous year, and fix them.  This is not an unusual goal in business, and it is a good one. 

Then, there are the programs with which we are all familiar: six sigma, total quality and continuous improvement programs.  These are good programs and often lead to great initiatives and improvements in quality and productivity.  However, their focus is on reducing and eliminating errors. 

Don’t get me wrong, reducing errors is a good thing.  However, as Mr. Buckingham points out, it’s only half of the excellence equation.  Truly excellent people and companies not only reduce and eliminate errors, they identify what they’re good at, and then find ways to build on these strengths.

This example is meant to stimulate your thinking on common sense.  The common sense point – of Mr. Buckingham’s quote, and the discussion that followed is simple.  If you turn around some of your typical ways of looking at the world and doing things, you can achieve extraordinary success.

That’s it for today.  Thanks for reading.  Remember to use your common sense on Saturday, November 4 – Use Your Common Sense Day – and everyday.

Log on to my website www.BudBilanich.com for more common sense.  Check out my other blogs: www.CareerSuperStar.com for common sense advice on becoming the life and career star you are meant to be; and www.CommonSenseDay.com to learn more about Use Your Common Sense Day -- November 4, and to read stories of common sense in action.

I’ll see you around the web, and at Alex’s Lemonade Stand.

Bud

PS: Speaking of Alex’s Lemonade Stand – my fundraising page is still open.  Please go to www.FirstGiving.com/TheCommonSenseGuy to read Alex’s inspiring story and to donate if you can.

November 4 is Use Your Common Sense Day

Today is November 1 – only three more days until November 4, Will Rogers’ birthday – and more importantly, Use Your Common Sense Day.

I created Use Your Common Sense Day as a way of getting people to use their common sense.  I chose Will Rogers’ birthday because of his famous saying “common sense ain’t all that common”.

As I’ve been thinking and writing about the application of common sense – to managing your career, leading people, and running a small business – I’ve been struck by how often people know exactly what they should do in a given situation; their common sense tells them.  I’ve also been struck by how often people ignore their common sense.  Most often, people don’t follow their common sense because following your common sense takes discipline and hard work.

That’s why I’ve created Use Your Common Sense Day.  I’m hoping that for at least one day this year – specifically, Saturday, November 4 – people will suck it up and use their common sense. 

I don’t care what they do – not smoke for a day, exercise for a day, eat right for a day, change the oil in their car, reinforce their kids’ self esteem, save a few bucks instead of buying a lottery ticket – I just want all of us to do something that we know that we should do, and are not doing.

Personally, I’m going to do two things.  I’m going to get outside and get some exercise – even though it’s getting cold here in Denver; and I’m going to eat foods that are good for me.  If I can do these things one day, I should be able to do them the day after, and the day after that.  In short, I’m going to use Use Your Common Sense Day to kick off a fitness regime.  This is important to me as I usually blow it regarding diet and exercise during the holiday season.  Maybe this year will be different because of Use Your Common Sense Day.

I’m interested in hearing what you will do to use your common sense on Use Your Common Sense Day.  Please post about it in the comments section of this blog.  I’ll send anyone who posts and e mails me their snail mail address a copy of any of my books – you get to choose.

That’s it for today.  Thanks for reading.  Remember to use your common sense on Saturday, November 4 – Use Your Common Sense Day – and everyday.

Log on to my website www.BudBilanich.com for more common sense.  Check out my other blogs: www.CareerSuperStar.com for common sense advice on becoming the life and career star you are meant to be; and www.CommonSenseDay.com to learn more about Use Your Common Sense Day -- November 4, and to read stories of common sense in action.

I’ll see you around the web, and at Alex’s Lemonade Stand.

Bud

PS: Speaking of Alex’s Lemonade Stand – my fundraising page is still open.  Please go to www.FirstGiving.com/TheCommonSenseGuy to read Alex’s inspiring story and to donate if you can.