Pure Common Sense

Simple Common Sense:  if there is a problem going on, you should take the best steps necessary to fix it and you should not burden yourself more than is sufficient.  That probably sounds reasonable to pretty much everyone.  You would think that this is both “Common” Sense and Conventional Wisdom.  However, people often find it hard to embody their God-given ability to use Common Sense in practice.  You see, my engineer friend works at DEKA up near Manchester.  They’re a pretty large company with a couple hundred employees.  They used to have a policy where employees could bring dogs to work as long as they tied them up while they were not around.  However, one employee took advantage by bringing in a show dog, which they refused to leave alone.  They would ask other employees to watch the dog while they were away from their post.  Then when people contacted those employees asking for something like a report, they would have to say “I can’t – I’m watching so-and-sos dog.”  Needless to say, the executives banned dogs from the office through frustrated Conventional Wisdom.  Common Sense would have said “don’t ban ALL dogs, just THAT one.”  Tell the employee to suck it up and leave the dog alone without burdening their coworkers or just tell them they can’t bring their dog to the office anymore.  A little good discrimination can go a long way in not ruining things for the rest of us.  What about the other employees used to bringing in their dogs?  I guess they have to leave them at home now or worse, pay for a day-sitter.  All because of the joint efforts of some quack with a show dog and hasty impulsive top-downers.