Published April 2002

Intuition is important decision-making tool

Q. Another manager and I are having a disagreement. He believes that all important decisions, whether they be financial, product development, strategic or involve employees, be made on the basis of careful, thoughtful reasoning and analysis. While I see the power of being thorough, there are occasions I feel most comfortable deciding based on my “gut” instinct. Do you believe intuition can be a valuable decision-making tool in business?

A. When faced with an important decision, conventional wisdom tells us to proceed with caution. Gather the facts. Analyze them in a variety of ways. List pros and cons. Brainstorm the question with colleagues.

Taking the linear, rational approach, the correct decision will become readily apparent, or so accepted management theory goes.

But after all the analysis is done, when the pros outweigh the cons and the data clearly show only one way to proceed, why does your stomach start churning, your eyelid twitches and you start sweating just prior to making that decision?

It's because your gut’s talking to you. Your insides are saying, this isn’t right, go the other way. You imagine a giant stop sign popped up right in front of your eyes.

Your intuition has taken over.

Intuition is an important decision-making tool because it’s something we’re all blessed with. In fact, the business world is increasingly accepting the role of intuition in decision-making. Recent studies show that CEOs of companies that doubled profits over a year period used their intuition far more than lesser-achieving counterparts.

Intuition is best described as an inner knowing. It’s when you “just knew” who was calling on the phone, that the teacher was going to call on you next, that it would be good to accept a date from the man who later would become your husband.

There are many examples of how intuition has been followed in a business setting.

When the late Mary Kay Ash, President of Mary Kay Cosmetics, was conducting a final interview with a marketing consultant with an impeccable record, she just couldn’t bring herself to offer him the job. She hired another candidate and found out that the first candidate was indicted for fraud six months later.

Scientist Jonas Salk was said to have received the formula for his polio vaccine in an “intuitive flash,” while Albert Einstein first came up with his theory of relativity while on a fishing outing, though he did not develop the mathematical formula to support it until 20 years later.

Usually, intuition is expressed through one dominant individual sense — an inner vision, sound, smell, taste or body movement — which “talks” to you in a unique language only you can understand.

Despite the strength of such an insight, your fears may block your use of it. In a meeting, you sense the best way to proceed may be perceived by co-workers as silly, unscientific or unprofessional, so you remain quiet. The best way to determine the “accuracy” of your intuition is to test it. Write down your “gut” feeling, then go back later to determine whether your unconventional outlook was on target.

There are other ways to practice your intuition. Try to guess what your boss will wear tomorrow. Try to identify who will send you an e-mail today or who is calling on the phone. In each instance, get in touch with the feelings that guide your decision.

Being aware of your intuitive feelings does not mean you should discard rational thought and analysis. While reasoned study is important, being in touch with your “gut” feeling can also put you in the right direction.

Eric Zoeckler operates The Scribe, a business writing service. He also writes “Taming the Workplace,” which appears Mondays in The Herald. He can be reached at 206-284-9566 or by e-mail to mrscribe@aol.com.

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