Somewhere between the invention of participation trophies and the rise of “influencer life coaches,” Common Sense quietly cleaned out his locker, turned in his hard hat, and walked off the job. Nobody noticed. HR didn’t even process his exit interview because the intern “didn’t feel comfortable asking hard questions.”
You’d think people would’ve noticed when the coffee pot started getting filled with decaf or when someone hung a “Caution: Floor May Be Wet” sign in the parking lot during a thunderstorm. But no — the world just shrugged, filed another policy revision, and scheduled a meeting to discuss “alternative thinking strategies.”
Common Sense used to be that one old-timer in the corner who didn’t say much until it mattered. The guy who’d fix a million-dollar problem with a five-dollar idea and a busted wrench. Now he’s been replaced by an “AI-driven best practices consultant” who’s never changed a tire but has a PowerPoint about it.
And God forbid you try to resurrect Common Sense. If you suggest that maybe, just maybe, showing up on time and doing your job isn’t oppression, someone will accuse you of “toxic accountability.”
Common Sense didn’t get fired for underperforming. He got laid off because he made everyone else look bad. You can’t have logic and responsibility in a workplace that’s allergic to both.
Now we’ve got committees for everything — Safety Committees, Engagement Committees, Coffee Temperature Committees — and not one of them knows how to plug in the damn coffee pot. The guy with experience gets ignored, the gal with the clipboard gets promoted, and we all sit in another Zoom call pretending to care about synergy.
Meanwhile, Common Sense is somewhere down at the VFW, nursing a beer and shaking his head.
The Leadership Takeaway:
If you’re in charge — of a crew, a family, or even just your own life — your job is to rehire Common Sense.
Bring him back. Give him a raise. Put him in charge of training.