Where Did Common Sense Ride Off To?

Sitting here with my morning coffee, watching middle Tennessee come alive with that first light, and I keep thinking about something that’s been nagging at me…

We’ve got more data than we know what to do with, more analytics than stars in the sky, and more dashboards than anyone could reasonably monitor. But somewhere along the way, we lost something our grandparents took for granted – plain old common sense.

Pete Blaber, that Special Forces colonel who wrote “The Common Sense Way,” put it better than I ever could when he talked about how we’ve gotten so caught up in complex solutions that we’ve forgotten the simple truth: sometimes the best answer is the one staring you right in the face. He spent years in situations where overthinking could get people killed, and what he learned was that your gut – that internal compass we all carry – is usually pointing true north.

The Data Stampede

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not some old-timer shaking my fist at progress. Data’s powerful – it’ll take you places you never imagined. But here’s what keeps rolling around in my mind: we’ve let the tail wag the dog. We’re so busy collecting information that we’ve forgotten how to trust what we already know.

Think about it – how many times have you seen someone spend weeks analyzing every metric imaginable trying to make a decision that their gut already knew the answer to? All those conversion rates, assessments, feedback loops, and fancy algorithms, when really what they needed was to trust that voice inside saying “this feels right” or “something’s not adding up here.”

The numbers might say one thing, but sometimes you can feel the truth of a situation in your bones, the way you can sense a storm coming long before the weather service calls it.

When Did We Stop Trusting Our Gut?

Somewhere along the way, we started acting like trusting our instincts was somehow unprofessional, unsophisticated, maybe even irresponsible. We built these elaborate systems to validate what we already knew, like asking for GPS directions to our own neighborhood.

I think about the old-timers – never ran Fortune 500 companies, never had MBAs, but could read people like the morning paper. They’d size up a situation, make a decision, and move forward. Not reckless, not careless, but confident in that quiet way that comes from trusting the wisdom earned through actually living.

Pete Blaber talks about this exact thing – how Special Forces soldiers learn to process complex information quickly and then trust their trained instincts. They don’t have the luxury of analysis paralysis when lives are on the line. They gather what they need, apply their experience, and act. That’s not just military wisdom; that’s life wisdom.

The Real Cost of Complexity

Here’s what’s really eating at me about this whole situation: while we’re busy building more sophisticated ways to make decisions, we’re losing our ability to make good ones. It’s like having the fanciest navigation system in the world but forgetting how to read street signs.

You see it everywhere – founders buried in spreadsheets that would make an engineer weep, trying to decide whether to take funding when their gut’s been telling them the answer for months. Leaders paralyzed by data points when what they really need is to step back and ask the simple questions: Do I trust these people? Does this feel right? What would happen if I stripped away all the noise and just listened to what I already know?

The Quiet Wisdom

You know what I notice about the best leaders? They’ve learned to use data as a tool, not a crutch. They gather information, but they don’t let it replace judgment. They build systems, but they don’t let process override common sense.

There’s something powerful about learning to honor both the metrics on your screen and that feeling in your stomach when something’s not quite right. Data informs common sense; it doesn’t replace it. Your experience, your intuition, that voice that whispers “wait, something’s missing here” – those aren’t bugs in the system. They’re features.

That’s what Pete Blaber was getting at. The most sophisticated solution isn’t always the smartest one, and the most data-driven decision isn’t always the right one.

Getting Back on Track

So how do we find our way back? How do we honor both the power of information and the wisdom of instinct?

Start by asking different questions. Instead of “What does the data say?” try “What does the data confirm that I already suspected?” Instead of “What’s the most sophisticated solution?” ask “What’s the simplest approach that would actually work?”

Give yourself permission to trust what you know. That voice in your head that’s saying “this doesn’t feel right” or “there’s something we’re missing” – that’s not amateur hour talking. That’s the accumulation of everything you’ve learned, filtered through the part of your brain that connects patterns faster than any spreadsheet ever could.

The Path Forward

Pete Blaber spent his career in situations where the difference between smart decisions and overthought ones could be measured in lives saved or lost. The rest of us might not face those stakes, but the principle holds: sometimes the best answer is the obvious one, and the smartest move is trusting what you already know.

I’m not saying throw out the data. I’m saying remember that it’s supposed to serve you, not run you. Use it to validate your instincts, challenge your assumptions, and fill in the gaps. But don’t let it replace the fundamental human ability to look at a situation, draw on your experience, and make a call.

Because here’s the truth that every good leader eventually learns: at the end of the day, after all the analysis is done and all the consultants have gone home, somebody’s got to make a decision. And the best decisions come from people who’ve learned to trust the compass they carry inside.

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So here’s my challenge to you: This week, when you’re facing a decision – big or small – start with your gut. What does your common sense tell you? What would you do if you had to decide right now, based on what you already know? Then gather your data, run your analysis, check your work. But don’t lose sight of that first instinct. More often than not, it’s pointing you toward home.

Because sometimes the best technology is the one we’ve been carrying all along – that quiet voice that knows the difference between smart and complicated, between sophisticated and right.