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“Acumen” is the ability to make good judgments and quick decisions. There are a number of places where acumen can come in handy:

• Business acumen: Do you know who your customer is? Do you know whether you can fulfill their needs and make a profit? Can you do it consistently, and better than the competition? Do you know how to negotiate a win-win agreement?
• Financial acumen: Do you know how to manage money? Do you know the difference between cash flow and funds flow? Do you know how to cut costs and invest wisely? Do you know when you are paying too much for a product or service?
• Moral acumen: Do you know what the “right thing” to do is in any give situation? Can you execute without getting caught in philosophical disputes?
• Common sense: If you don’t understand this, you probably don’t have it.
• Street smarts: Can you read a situation quickly and react even quicker to take advantage of it? The emphasis here is on speed and accuracy, and leading directly to effectiveness.

A well rounded person will have all of the above. The educational system in all countries seems to fall short in developing all these types of acumen (this is not a comment backed by research, but I’d be curious to see if I am wrong). Those born with a proclivity towards one of the types will pursue a career, profession, or career that requires that type of acumen. Those who have none of the above will flounder.

The biggest problem, in my mind, is that grown adults fall back on blaming their education and do not develop the self awareness and follow it up with a concentrated effort to develop one or more of the above.