In this episode, hosts Merv Jersak and Tim Jerome consider the challenges project managers face in applying common sense in leadership roles, especially in IT project management. They discuss the over-reliance on data and artificial intelligence, the pressures of urgency, and the impact of cognitive biases. The episode highlights the need for balancing data-driven decisions with practical common sense, understanding organizational politics, and maintaining diverse experiences. It also explores the importance of self-reflection and creating an environment that fosters practical decision-making.

Main Take-Aways

Project leaders, and leaders in general, often make decisions without applying common sense to that process. What are some of the reasons?

• over-reliance on data and artificial intelligence
• increasing complexity in business and on projects
• urgency and time pressures
• wanting to appear sophisticated in their decision-making
• cognitive bias and blind spots
• refusing to get into the details
• relying on the status quo
• lack of diverse experiences
• lack of self-reflection
• assuming that others share your approach to solutions
• rigid adherence to rules and process

What are some simple strategies can you apply to combat these?

• creating a collaborative environment
• communicating clearly
• staying connected to frontline issues
• balancing data-driven and common sense application to decision-making

Show Notes

Today’s Project Managers Coffee Chat: Why Common Sense is Uncommon

00:29 Exploring why common sense in leadership is not always common.

01:11 The impact of over reliance on data (and possibly AI) to help make decisions, thus taking away much of the application of intuition/common sense. Decisions become more perfunctory and less creative.

02:54 Increasing complexity in managing business, and in the projects you undertake, are making the application of common sense more challenging.

03:39 Urgency and timeline/schedule pressures create an environment for poor decision-making and absence of common sense.

04:31 Leaders who wish to appear sophisticated and on top of the complexities of their decision-making sometimes set aside common sense in making those decisions. Organizational politics can hinder good application of common sense. Simplicity is the key to application of common sense.

06:21 Cognitive biases and blind spots can inadvertently, unknowingly, substitute for thoughtful decision-making using common sense.

08:50 Management with only a cursory understanding of what projects entail often inaccurately instruct their teams to make decisions. Common sense suggests that such individuals get into more detail before issuing directives that can derail the team.

10:11 Status quo – doing things the way they have always been done – can hinder your ability to apply common sense.

11:26 A lack of diverse experience as a leader impedes the ability to apply common sense to various project challenges.

13:20 The inability to self-reflect reduces the ability to learn from past decisions and hone our common sense for future decision-making.

14:14 Assuming that your thinking process is shared by others results in inadequate sharing of information and incomplete decision-making. This to hampers common sense.

16:52 Rigid adherence to rules and process stymies application of common sense.

18:35 Strategies to combat these barriers to applying common sense include the following:

18:49     … creating an environment that fosters collaborative working together

19:06     … communicating clearly

19:30     … staying connected with frontline events and issues

19:55     … balancing data driven decision-making with the application of common sense to those decisions