Hmm. Common Sense may not be as common as you’d like.

Reading over at Educated Being put this idea in perspective, and highlights a shift in expectation from Common Sense to Responsibility:

Every individual has different origin, experiences, and way of interpreting the situation. Based on which we feel that we have acquired the knowledge to act/react in a particular situation in the best possible way. In fact right now I am assuming that this is common sense by saying ‘we’ on your behalf. But of course, you might disagree with me. So it is not common sense.

Funny the assumptions we make. This in no small part contributes to the breakdown in our (ok, my) conversations and communications as well. Educated Being author Rise goes on to distinguish responsibilities (to ourselves and others) into two categories – differential (responsibility to ourselves to be develop our unique identity) and integral:

…in integral approach each individual takes responsibility to respect each others’ identity and invest in each others’ goals. This too is a must-have feature. It helps in preserving who you are together. Cooperation and compromise play important role in this.

Which, oddly, sounds alot like this idea of feedback and collaboration we’ve been hung on with the Kumquat effort. So if you’re not feeling like a valued partner, it may just be that your flavor of common sense isn’t getting through. Try switching things up with a little good ol’ fashion, straight-forward “I need you to do this for my growth” pleading and begging.

What are you willing to do when “common sense” is no where to be found? How do you negotiate your needs?