I first heard this quote from one of my Driver Trainers. He was teaching a. new driver how to operate a Parcel Package van and run a parcel route.

He started his training showing the new driver how to stack boxes properly on a hand cart. It was an often-overlooked step in the process, but one that made a huge difference in the success of the trainee.

His explanation was simple: Not everyone has learned how to do this, so we teach them. We don’t assume they can figure it out. One person’s common sense is another’s Rocket Science.

So many times, we fail in execution because we assume that there are parts of the process that are “common sense”, and an operator should figure them out.

We fail the moment we assume everyone comes in with ‘basic’ knowledge, and the ability to ‘figure it out.’