Accordingly common sense as previously defined is not very
commonplace for managers especially when addressing basic decisions (De Berry,
2003). In other words, “common sense”, notes Kinsey (2004), “is not so common”.
Most managers when dealing with task uncertainty simply operate out of habit and
take the path of least resistance (Lewin, 1951) based upon their prior experience and
training. The purpose of training and developing expert judgment would therefore
seem to be to reduce predictable and unpredictable task uncertainties to a point where
decision making is more certain – a “managerial” common sense so to speak. Taylor
(1911) nearly 100 years ago described this concept as “first class men”, employees
properly trained to handle most predictable problems on the job, as well as supervisors
who could solve any predictable problems that their workers would encounter and
could not handle. Given the prior discussion of the differing categories of decision
making based upon the differing conditions of task uncertainty, and the above noted
application of common sense principles to the realities of organizational
decision-making, we suggest two forms of “common sense” in organizations.