Uncommon Sense - The One accountUncommon Sense A report of research commissioned by Virgin One Prepared by Dr. Peter Marsh January 2001 MCM Research Ltd. 27/28 St. Clements, Oxford

Uncommon Sense

A report of research commissioned by Virgin OnePrepared by Dr. Peter Marsh

January 2001

MCM Research Ltd. 27/28 St. Clements, Oxford. OX4 1ABTel: 01865 204211 Fax: 01865 793137

Contents

Introduction - Scott Mowbray, Virgin One Account. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3What is Uncommon Sense? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Foreword by Dr Peter Marsh, MCM Research. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Key Research Findings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

The Virgin One Uncommon Sense Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Purpose of the study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

The riddles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Problem 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Problem 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Problem 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Problem 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Overall performance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Attitudes towards Uncommon sense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

S1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

S2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

S3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

S4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

S5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

S6. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

S7. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

S8. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

S9. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

S10. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

S11. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

S12. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

S13. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

n MCM Research - January 2001 2

n Uncommon Sense –

Introduction - Scott Mowbray, Virgin One Account

What is UncommonSense?

At Virgin One, we define Uncommon Sense as creative or lateral

thinking, something we are proud to think the Virgin One Account

is all about.

To celebrate the power of Uncommon Sense thinking and how

looking beyond the obvious can help you solve problems in every

day life, we commissioned a study into the occurrence of

uncommon sense thinking in people, and attitudes to common sense

and uncommon sense as ways of thinking when it comes to problem

solving.

We are always being told how good common sense is. Indeed, how

often have you heard someone being knocked back for not having

any? But common sense has limitations. Sometimes we are right to

trust it, but imagine if we always did. We’d still think the sun

revolved around our own planet if Gallileo hadn’t changed what

was common sense 400 years ago.

Today, in a financial context, common sense says you need a

mortgage when buying a home, a personal loan when using finance

to buy a car and a current account for your income. These separate

accounts appear to be the obvious solution in banking but maybe

this commonly accepted view is wrong. The smarter, uncommon

sense way of banking is to put it all in one place. It might not be

obvious but simply running savings, income and borrowings

through the same account could save thousands of pounds in

interest.

The results show that people are beginning to truly recognise the

benefits of uncommon sense thinking. A report that seeks to explore

the value of this quality, still too often overlooked in our daily lives,

follows. I hope you enjoy it and find it inspiring!


n Uncommon Sense – Introduction - Scott Mowbray, Virgin One Account

Foreword by Dr Peter Marsh, MCM Research

One of the problems with being a social scientist is that one’s work

is sometimes described as jargon-ridden, obscure and hard to

fathom. On the other hand, when people do understand what we are

struggling to say, the points are often dismissed as being just

‘common sense’ – something that everybody knew already and we

didn’t need a psychologist to tell us that. It seems that often we just

cannot win. But, revealed in this quite healthy scepticism is an

insight into the notion of ‘common sense’ itself.

On the one hand, common sense refers to things that are ‘obvious’ –

they need no further thought or investigation. When dark clouds fill

the sky and the weather forecast indicates rain, common sense tells

us to wear a mac and take an umbrella with us. Sense which is

‘common’ – i.e. routine and shared by everybody around us – is,

therefore, a very basic and necessary aspect of human life. It is

essential for everyday functioning.

On the other hand, common sense is often held in more positive

regard. We talk of some people as having ‘a lot of common sense’ –

down-to-earth types on whom we can rely to solve problems for us

and to help us out when we need them. They can provide good,

rational advice in a world which can frequently appear quite

irrational.

What we are talking about in both cases here is ‘intelligence’ – the

ability to solve practical problems in our everyday lives, whether

simple or more complex, and to function as competent human

beings. When psychologists devise measures of intelligence in the

form of IQ tests, they go beyond assessments of just this practical

knowledge to assess more abstract types of reasoning. But they

focus very much on those skills which are useful in a particular kind

of society. In our culture, for example, we examine linguistic and

numerical skills, along with spatial reasoning – the ability to

manipulate patterns and objects. And we require this range of skills

to be exercised in a fixed time period. It’s not just a matter of being

able to solve the problems, but how quickly they are completed as

well.

In other types of society, however, what is valued and seen as useful

can be very different. In some traditional African cultures, for

example, the concept of intelligence translates as something like

‘cautious slowness’ – an approach which would make you appear

quite dim if presented with a Western IQ test. Elsewhere in the

world, intelligence is seen as being a much more social

phenomenon – you would find it strange to be asked to complete an

IQ test on your own. You would want to involve your brothers and

sisters, perhaps the entire extended family before you gave an

answer. Here, that would simply be viewed as ‘cheating’.


n Uncommon Sense – Foreword by Dr Peter Marsh, MCM Research

Intelligence then, and its core component of common sense, is an

arbitrary way of indicating which types of knowledge, skills and

approaches to problem-solving are valued in a given society at a

particular point of its historical development. In this sense, of

course, it is very useful. It indicates what skills and competencies

should be developed in schools so that individuals can play a useful

role in society in their adult life. But it can also be constricting. It

encourages us to develop a quite narrow range of approaches to

solving the types of problem with which we are routinely presented.

There is a parallel here with the ways in which we form impressions

of people around us. We constantly meet new people in both our

working and social lives. We need to form very quick impressions

of these people in order to interact with them effectively. Are we

attracted to them? Do they share similar values to us? What are their

interests? Do we want to spend much time with them? And so on.

We rely on stereotypes, or pigeon-holing, to fit them into one of our

ready-made categories. These impressions are almost always

inaccurate and incomplete. But life is too short to keep a completely

open mind all of the time. Later, when we have time, and if we are

still in touch with these people, we might find that we need to revise

those impressions – reconsider our views in the light of more

information.

And so it is with common sense. It allows us to get on with our lives

without having constantly to re-invent the wheel. It allows us to use

‘tried and tested’ ways of doing things, which work reasonably well,

most of the time. But it leads us to work on the basis of fixed

assumptions, which are not always appropriate. Einstein once

remarked that “Common sense is the collection of prejudices

acquired by the age of eighteen.” Holding such ‘prejudices’, while

often useful in the sense that having stereotypes can be, leads us to

overlook potentially more effective ways of thinking about things.

The trouble is that only rarely do we look back and realise that there

could have been a much better solution to a problem, if only we had

looked a little harder; if only we had used a little imagination; if

only we used some uncommon sense.

Uncommon sense is a way of approaching problems which do not

necessarily follow the conventional route. It’s akin to what, in

management speak, is called ‘thinking outside of the box’, or what

some people term ‘creative’ thinking. It involves removing the

barriers which reliance on common sense intelligence has,

unwittingly, erected. It also involves focusing on other, previously

unconnected, information and making new links.

It is this which led Archimedes, for example, to discover the

fundamental principle of buoyancy while taking a bath. Whether he

did, in reality, run though the streets of Athens shouting “Eureka” is

less certain. But without his use of uncommon sense the

development of a whole area of physics would have been seriously

delayed. And Einstein, of course, applied extremely uncommon



sense when he overturned all of the commonly held notions about

space and time with his theory of relativity. He succeeded in

dramatic fashion in putting aside all of those prejudices which his

education had provided him with and clung to his belief that

‘imagination is more important than knowledge.’

Archimedes and Einstein, of course, are lofty examples of the power

of uncommon sense. At a more mundane level, however, the same

way of thinking is evident in the development of the Dyson vacuum

cleaner. James Dyson had spent a frustrating Saturday morning

cleaning out his old fashioned appliance, pondering on how it could

be improved. But it wasn’t until he had put aside all the normal

assumptions about vacuum cleaners – that they had to suck in air,

filter out the dirt in a bag etc. – that it was possible to see a real

alternative.

Some people see these processes as ‘flashes of inspiration’ or ‘pure

genius’. And in a sense they are. But uncommon sense is not just

the prerogative of men whose names have gone down in history.

The principles which underlie these innovations in both theory and

practical application are there for all of us to share. All we have to

do is place less reliance on routine assumptions, challenge some of

the ‘tried and tested’ methods, and start to think in ways which are

less constrained by ‘conventional wisdoms’.

If uncommon sense has such practical value in everyday life, how

many of us use it? Indeed, how many of us recognise the

short-comings in our traditional, common sense ways of tackling

routine and inevitable problems? Do people see any advantage in

changing their thinking habits? Where might a bit of uncommon

sense be best employed?

Until very recently we could not have answered such questions.

Now we can, thanks to the Virgin One Uncommon Sense study.



Key Research Findings

® The majority of people fail to solve problems which require an

uncommon sense approach because they make the wrong,

‘common sense’ assumptions. Younger people do slightly better

than their elders and men are better than women, perhaps due to

their higher levels of competitiveness.

® However, people in the age range 35-55 are generally the most

receptive to the benefits of uncommon sense, indicating an age of

enlightenment. Maybe life does begin at forty!

® Over a third of the people surveyed thought that creative thinking

or uncommon sense would be of most benefit when dealing with

their finances.

® Women have most of their creative, uncommon sense thoughts

when talking to others, indicating that this type of thinking comes

best to women in a social context. Men on the other hand tend to

be individualistic when it comes to moments of ‘eureka’ – Their

best thoughts coming when driving or sitting on the toilet!

® 78% of men and women agreed that common sense thinking, or

not looking beyond the obvious could cost them financially.

® The study showed that 83% of respondents agreed when it was

suggested that, for some things in life you need a new perspective

and to start thinking a bit differently. Indeed, over half said they

agreed strongly with this thought.

® 86% thought that in some situations in life required us to look

beyond the obvious.

® Only 32% of people thought sticking to the ways they have

always done things is the best way to work things out

® Only a quarter of the people surveyed felt they explored all of their

options before making decisions. This would indicate that people

might be prone to rash ‘common sense’ decision making when

taking financial products for example.


n Uncommon Sense – Key Research Findings

The Virgin One Uncommon Sense Study

Purpose of the study The study was designed to assess the extent to which a balanced

sample of the British population possessed a degree of uncommon

sense in their approaches to problem-solving It further sought to

measure their attitudes towards uncommon sense and the perceived

value of such a way of thinking in everyday life contexts.

Design There are many ways of examining patterns of thinking and

intelligence in the psychological laboratory. These, however, rarely

tell us much about how real people in the real world approach

problems, the extent to which they see alternative ways of obtaining

solutions, or the extent to which they are able to get past common,

but ultimately flawed, assumptions.

We took, therefore, a different approach. Over 1,000 people – men

and women of various ages and social classes, and from different

regions of the country – were asked to respond to a telephone

interview. In this, they were asked firstly to think about 4 riddles.

The riddles were specifically chosen because they did not contain

any ‘tricks’. All could be quite easily solved if people thought about

them properly and avoided making unnecessary or false

assumptions.

Secondly they were presented with a number of questions designed

to assess:

n perceived reasons for failure to solve the riddles

n perceived limitations of common sense approaches to

problem-solving.

n willingness to embrace alternative, uncommon sense

approaches

n perceived benefits of uncommon sense in everyday life

n situations in which uncommon thinking was most likely to

occur

Summary analyses of the results are presented in the next two

sections.


n Uncommon Sense – The Virgin One Uncommon Sense Study

The riddles

Problem 1 Q. A woman gives a beggar 20p. The woman is the beggar‘s sister,

but the beggar is not the woman’s brother. How is this? A. The

beggar is the woman’s sister.

This problem was solved by only just over a quarter of the

respondents (26% of both males and females). People in the 25-34

year old category were significantly better than most, with 36%

providing the right answer. (See Figure 1.1).

Most people, of course make the assumption that the beggar is a

man. Once you get rid of such ‘prejudices’ the problem is very

straightforward and easy to solve.

Problem 2. Q. I have in my hand 2 coins totalling 15p. One is not a 5p piece.

What are they? A. A 10p and a 5p - one is not a 5p.

This is an interesting problem because it shows how people

misinterpret quite straightforward statements. Most assume that

‘one’ in this context means ‘neither’, although there is no good

reason for doing so. Again, one has to put aside what is assumed to

be ‘obvious’ in order to find a solution.

Men were significantly better than women on this ‘riddle’, although

over three quarters still got it wrong, as shown in Figure 2.1



18-2425-34

35-4445-54

55-6465+

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

Fig. 1.1 Problem 1 - percent correct by age

There were also some age differences here, with the younger

respondents doing the worst. People in their mid 40s to mid 50s and

65+ were significantly better than the rest, as shown in Figure 2.2.

In this case, as in the case of the other problems, respondents in the

higher socio-economic categories tended to get the right answer

significantly more often than those in the lower categories. Of those

in the AB groups, for example, 28% gave the right answer,

compared with only 16% in the lowest ‘manual worker’ categories

D and E. This is not too surprising because many people in the



18-2425-34

35-4445-54

55-6465+

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%


Male

Female

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

Fig. 2.1 Problem 2 - percent correct by sex

higher SE groups tend to have more practice in solving abstract

problems. It is clear, however, that being ‘brainy’ in this sense only

helps to a degree when faced with this and similar types of problem.

Even very ‘clever’ people fail to solve puzzles when they cling to

the wrong assumptions.

Problem 3 Q. You are participating in a race and you overtake the second.

What position do you finish? A. Second

This is an interesting riddle because the answer, when you think

about it properly, is blindingly obvious. If you overtake the person

running second, you must have been in third place. You take his or

her place, so you must now be second. Despite the simplicity, only

about a quarter of respondents got this right (25% of males and 24%

of females). Most thought that if you passed the person in second

place you must be in the lead.

What is happening here is that most people hear the word ‘second’,

think of the position above second, so assume that the answer is

‘first’. Again, a completely false assumption is interfering with the

ability to think constructively.

People in their mid 20s to mid 30s were better in solving this

problem than the rest, as shown in Figure 3.1.



18-2425-34

35-4445-54

55-6465+

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%


Problem 4 Q. Please listen carefully. You are a pilot of an aeroplane with 100

passengers. It drops off 20 passengers in Glasgow and picks up 10.

It flies to Edinburgh where 10 get off and fifteen get on. Finally, it

arrives in Aberdeen. What is the pilot’s name? A. You are the pilot,

so it must be your name.

This is a ‘fun’ problem. Most people anticipate that this is a mental

arithmetic task. You can see their concentration as they keep track

of the figures. When the question comes at the end, many are not

prepared for it – they have paid heed to the ‘listen carefully’ bit at

the beginning, but they have focused on the wrong things.

Our respondents, however, managed to do rather better here than on

the previous problems, with men being significantly better than

women – 30% Vs 20%. The younger people (under 35) also did

significantly better than those in the older age groups, as shown in

Figure 4.1.

Overall performance In general, men did better overall than women on these tasks,

although both sexes performed quite badly. From Figure 5.1 we can

see that 39% of men and 43% of women failed to solve any of the

problems. Only 2% of both males and females got them all right.

Men, however, had the edge in getting 3 right more often then

women. The average number of correct questions was 1.05 for men

and 0.88 for women.

What this suggests is that men might be more able than women to

put aside the ‘common sense’ approach to these types of question –



18-2425-34

35-4445-54

55-6465+

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%


the approach which fails because it makes the wrong assumptions.

On the other hand, it could be that they are more practised in what

some people might regard as ‘smart aleck’ questions, and perhaps a

bit more competitive too.

There were a few age variations, with people in their mid 20s to mid

30s doing better than most.

Social class differences were quite significant in overall

performance, but even those in the top AB categories only managed

an average of 1.24 correct answers, compared with 0.79 for the

lowest SE groups. There were no noticeable differences between

respondents from various parts of the country, although those in the

South did marginally better than those in the Midlands.

Summary What these findings demonstrate is that ‘common sense’ approaches

to the types of problem presented in this study – ways of thinking

which rely on seemingly reasonable, but ultimately false,

assumptions – are obstacles to achieving solutions. To get to the

right answer it is necessary to step aside from normal

problem-solving habits to start to think in different ways. There

were no real ‘tricks’ to the questions. All were, in fact, quite simple.

But elegant simplicity is something which is often hidden when

people assume that the question is harder than it really is.



01

23

4

Male

Female0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

No. Correct

Fig. 5.1 Overall performance by sex

Attitudes towards Uncommon sense

In the second part of the study we examined our respondents’ ideas

about alternative ways of thinking and problem-solving. Many were

experiencing a sense of failure – perhaps feeling a bit ‘thick’ once

they heard the answers to the riddles that they had been unable to

solve. If common sense had not succeeded, could a bit more

‘creative thinking’ have helped? If so, how might such uncommon

sense approaches help them in their everyday lives. We asked them

to express their agreement or disagreement with ten statements.

Their responses are summarised below.

S1 It has been said that some people cannot solve these riddles because

they make the wrong assumptions.

There was overwhelming agreement with this statement (86%)

across both sexes and most age groups. It was, however, the more

‘mature’ respondents in their mid 40s to mid 50s who expressed the

strongest agreement, as shown in Figure 6.1.

The willingness by people in this and neigbouring age groups to

accept the limitations of common sense and to embrace new ways

of thinking is also, as we will see, evident in their responses to other

statements in this section of the study. (The relatively positive

response of the 18-24 group was less noticeable elsewhere.)



18-2425-34

35-4445-54

55-6465+

74%

76%

78%

80%

82%

84%

86%

88%

90%

92%

Fig. 6.1 S1 – Percent expressing agreement by age

S2 Just using common sense does not always help you to solve

problems.

Respondents were more divided on this statement, with 60% of

females and 54% of males expressing agreement. (The difference

between the sexes was not statistically significant). Many

respondents were ‘neutral’ and an average of 18% disagreed with

the statement. We have, therefore, further evidence of a general

acceptance of the limitations of common sense approaches, and this

was most marked in the 35 to 54 age categories, as shown in Figure

6.2. The youngest respondents, between 18 and 24, were the least

likely to express reservations about the limits of common sense

thinking.

S3 For some things in life, you need to have a new perspective and

start thinking a bit differently

Our respondents were much more in accord with this view with

83% expressing agreement. Over half said that they agreed strongly.

Again, the ‘middle’ age bracket was where the acceptance of the

need for new perspectives was most evident, as shown in Figure 6.3.

Between their mid 30s and mid 50s is where, it seems, most people

are open to new ideas and ways of thinking. Their younger



18-2425-34

35-4445-54

55-6465+

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%


contemporaries have not reached this age of ‘enlightenment’ while

their elders seem now to have got a bit more ‘stuck in their ways’.

S4 Common sense thinking, or not looking beyond the obvious could

cost you in some situations.

A very similar pattern to S3 was found for this statement, with 78%

of both men and women in the sample agreeing, and those in the

35-44 age group doing so most frequently. Uncommon sense is

clearly seen as having specific, tangible benefits. This aspect is also

highlighted by responses to S12 below.

S5 Some situations in life require you to look beyond the obvious.

The overall agreement here was 86%, with the level highest in the

45-54 age group. The youngest and the oldest categories were again

those where the agreement was lowest.

S6 Sticking to the way you have always done things is the best way to

work things out.

Only a minority of 32% of the sample agreed with this statement,

which is consistent with their previous views on the limits of ‘tried

and tested’ common sense approaches.

S7 Most every day problems turn out to have quite simple solutions -

once you think them through properly.



18-24

25-34

35-44

45-54

55-64

65+

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%


This statement drew agreement from 76% of men and 80% of

women, although this difference is not statistically significant.

Respondents in the 35-44 age group were significantly, more in

accord with this view than the others, as shown in Figure 6.4.

S8 Thinking a bit more creatively can sometimes help people overcome

difficulties in their relationships.

We had expected that more women would tend to agree with this

statement than men. In fact, the reverse was the case with 82% of

males and 78% of females being in accord. The difference,

however, is not statistically significant and there is clearly strong

belief generally that a bit of ‘creative’ thinking can help resolve

relationship problems.

Following the now familiar pattern, people in their 40s and 50s were

most sympathetic to this view.

S9 I am more often attracted to people who think creatively than others

who do not.

While most of the respondents clearly saw merit in alternative,

uncommon sense ways of problem-solving, did they view people

who took this more ‘creative’ approach as being more attractive? It

seems they were less sure, with an average of 51% expressing

agreement – slightly higher for females. Many were uncertain but

only 8% disagreed. On balance, then, the uncommon thinkers do

seem to be held in higher regard in this sense. There was little



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35-4445-54

55-6465+

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%


variation across the age categories, but agreement was highest

among those in professional and managerial roles – the C1 class.

S10 I feel that I am more open to new ideas and innovations than most

of my friends.

To respond to this statement our sample had to compare themselves

with their friends. We expected, therefore, that the majority would

be ‘neutral’ here, seeing themselves neither more nor less open to

new ideas than others. While over a third of respondents expressed

such neutrality, however, the largest group (43%) was in agreement

with the statement and only a distinct minority (19%) disagreeing.

This certainly reinforces the positive feelings which the majority of

people have about uncommon sense and the attractiveness of people

who possess it. There was little age or social class variation in this

context.

S11 I do not always explore all of the options before making decisions in

my every day life.

There were divided views on this statement, but the largest group

was in general agreement. Only a quarter of the sample felt that they

really did explore all of the options before making decisions. The

age group which felt the most need for improvement in this context

was 35-44.

S12 Ranking the areas of benefit.

Here the respondents were presented with a rather different task.

They were asked to consider four areas of their lives where a bit

more uncommon sense might be of the greatest benefit. The options

were ‘Finance’, ‘Relationships’, ‘Career’ and ‘Leisure interests and

pursuits’.

From Figure 6.5 we can see a similar pattern for both males and

females in their perception of areas of highest benefit, with dealing

with their finances seen as being most likely to improve with the

application of creative thinking or uncommon sense. Over a third of

respondents rated this 1st. Perhaps personal finances are seen as a

bit of a riddle themselves – seemingly complex affairs, but which

have simple solutions once one looks beyond the commonly held

view and takes a fresh approach – in other words, when a bit of

uncommon sense is applied.

‘Relationships’ was the second most significant area that it was felt

could benefit from different approaches. On careers, however, the

third-most highly ranked, men saw this as a rather more significant

area compared with women (19% Vs 14%) but the biggest factor

was age. Those in the younger age groups were significantly more



likely to see uncommon sense as being of benefit to their career than

those in the older groups. (We would clearly not expect, of course,

those in the 65+ group to be too worried about their career

development.)

S13 Where do people have their most creative or best uncommon sense

thoughts?

This final question drew some interesting responses, with some

significant differences between men and women. From Figure 6.6

we can see that both men and women tended to have what we might

call ‘eureka’ moments most often when they were relaxing. Women,

however, were significantly more likely than men to obtain creative

solutions to problems when talking things through with other

people. For them, it seems that uncommon sense is a much more

interpersonal process than it is for men.

Women were also significantly less likely compared with men to

have their best thoughts when driving, under pressure or at work,

but more likely to come up with creative solutions when watching

TV or taking a shower. Men, of course, saw sitting on the toilet as

an opportunity for creative thought more frequently than did

women.



FinancesRelationships

CareerLeisure

Male

Female0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

Fig. 6.5 Percent ranking area of benefit 1st

Summary While most of our respondents failed to solve some or all of the

riddles, the large majority recognised that their failure was due to

the fact that they had made the wrong assumptions. They were also

aware of the limitations of common sense approaches and keen to

embrace new ways of thinking. The most receptive to new ideas

about problem solving were, perhaps surprisingly, those in their

‘middle’ ages. Those in the 18-24 and 55+ age categories seemed

the least willing to adapt in this way. There were few sex differences

in attitudes towards uncommon sense, with the exception of the

question relating to the situations in which they had their best ideas.

For women, uncommon sense was most likely to occur in social

contexts while for men it was more often during individual

activities.



Rel

axin

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Talk

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itth

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gh

Dri

vin

g

Un

der

Pre

ssu

re

Inb

ed

Inth

esh

ow

er

Inth

ep

ub

Infr

on

to

fT

V

On

the

toil

et

Wal

kin

gd

og

At

wo

rk

Males

Females0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

Fig. 6.6 Occasions for uncommon sense thoughts

Conclusions

Most of our respondents failed to solve the problems with which

they were presented because they made the wrong assumptions.

They applied common sense approaches, which did not work.

Younger people (18-35) solved slightly more of the riddles than did

their elders – perhaps helped by the fact that they have grown up in

an age dominated by TV quizzes and game shows. Men also

performed a bit better than women on some of the problems. This

latter effect may confirm the commonly held view that women tend

to have more common sense than men, but unfortunately that can

be a handicap in this context. Alternatively, men may take a more

competitive approach to ‘riddles’ than women.

The large majority of respondents recognised that it was their failure

to use uncommon sense which prevented them from solving the

problems. They also overwhelmingly recognised the need to have

new perspectives and to think differently on occasions.

People in the age range 35-55, while performing slightly less well

on the riddle-solving tasks, were significantly more receptive to the

benefits of applying uncommon sense. Perhaps there is an age of

‘enlightenment’ between youthful folly and dotage where

recognition of the need for different ways of thinking is most

marked. Notable figures of genius have, through the ages, been less

than youthful. They have been people with knowledge but who, like

Einstein perhaps, have been able to put aside the prejudices which

ordinarily come with age and see new ways of putting their

experience to good use.

People also saw uncommon sense as having utility not only in

solving relatively trivial things such as riddles, but in central aspects

of their daily lives – particularly in areas such as managing financial

affairs and in their relationships with others, with younger males

also seeing it as most relevant to their career development. Only a

minority viewed following the ‘tried and tested’ methods as the

route to a successful and fulfilling life. And most felt that always

following the conventional route could actually cost them money.

Not only are people with uncommon sense likely to be more

effective in managing their everyday lives, they also tend to be seen

as rather more attractive as well. Common sense, while still viewed

as having practical value, is clearly not a quality which

distinguishes people from the rest and draws you towards them.

Most interestingly, it seems that it is women who are the most

optimistic about the power of ‘positive’ thinking and about the

rewards which the application of uncommon sense can bring. It is

they who recognise more than men that most problems, like the

riddles with which they were presented, could be very simple to

solve if a little uncommon sense was applied.



Documents

Uncommon Sense - The One accountUncommon Sense A report of research commissioned by Virgin One Prepared by Dr. Peter Marsh January 2001 MCM Research Ltd. 27/28 St. Clements, Oxford