Problem
The question of common sense — the endeavor to specify the way everyday understanding and thinking is formulated and operates — has become one of the more pressing problems of the 21st century. Evidence includes the:
• Increased efforts of corporate and political entities to avail common sense to achieve their tactical and strategic objectives;
• Disturbances in revenue and profits suffered by corportions when they decouple their operations from the common sense views of their clients, and;
• Growing public and private efforts to simulate common sense in machines.
Response
This 8-hour workshop deconstructs common sense — which it exhibits as everyday, unconscious (intuitive), and associative understanding and thinking — to its basic cognitive operations, reviews common heuristic biases, and prescribes ways to mitigate the inherent power of common sense to subvert itself. A cognitive-psychological perspective is employed. It is framed cybernetically to address trans-professional and -industrial priorities and discern the relation of common sense to organizational performance. Learning is supported by brainstorming sessions, buzz sessions, knowledge checks, reviews, practical exercises, and discussions.
Teaching
The workshop extends upon by the US Army Common Faculty Development - Instructor Course (CFD-IC), the “gold standard” of adult learning. Joaquin Trujillo PhD -- the course's author and instructor -- obtained his CFD-IC certification from the US Army in 2019. Course content is based on Dr. Trujillo's published scientific research, the professional experience he garnered during his service as a CIA Operations Officer, and his regular work coaching and mentoring US Miliary and Special Forces in the leadership, team, communicative, and high reliability processes ingredient to successful intelligence and psychological operations during war. Dr. Trujillo holds a PhD in Sociology.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
• Improved organizational and professional fitness, reliability, adaptability, and productivity.
• Enhanced operational awareness and responsiveness.
• Elucidation of the constitution of everyday understanding and thinking.
• Discernment of cognitive operations commonly specified for computational simulation.
