Trust Gut Instincts and Intuition

Are decisions made by gut feelings good? Business writer Malcolm Gladwell seemed to think so. In his bestselling book Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking , he presented cogent arguments on how decisions made in an instant, almost without thinking, stood up better than decisions made after analytical considerations. Dotted with examples like how a fire-fighter suddenly knows when to leave a blazing building and how a marriage analyst instinctively knows whether a couple will have a successful marriage, the basis for his thinking without thinking approach was that our mind could gauge what is important from a narrow period of experience. This phenomenon was what he termed as thin slicing. Is there no merit in traditional thinking that haste makes waste? Should we not look before we leap, or stop and think? In Gladwell's example, if you should walk on the street and suddenly see a truck bearing down on you, do you have time to think through all your options? In his view, human species has survived for so long because of this ability to make very quick judgments based on very little information. Story:

The Dog, the Cock, and the Fox

(Illus by Milo Winter)

A Dog and a Cock, who were the best of friends, wished very much to see something of the world. So they decided to leave the farmyard and to set out into the world along the road that led to the woods. The two comrades traveled along in the very best of spirits and without meeting any adventure to speak of. At nightfall the Cock, looking for a place to roost, as was his custom, spied nearby a hollow tree that he thought would do very nicely for a night's lodging. The Dog could creep inside and the Cock would fly up on one of the branches. So said, so done, and both slept very comfortably. With the first glimmer of dawn the Cock awoke. For the moment he forgot just where he was. He thought he was still in the farmyard where it had been his duty to arouse the

household at daybreak. So standing on tip-toes he flapped his wings and crowed lustily. But instead of awakening the farmer, he awakened a Fox not far off in the wood. The Fox immediately had rosy visions of a very delicious breakfast. Hurrying to the tree where the Cock was roosting, he said very politely: "A hearty welcome to our woods, honored sir. I cannot tell you how glad I am to see you here. I am quite sure we shall become the closest of friends." "I feel highly flattered, kind sir," replied the Cock slyly. "If you will please go around to the door of my house at the foot of the tree, my porter will let you in." The hungry but unsuspecting Fox, went around the tree as he was told, and in a twinkling the Dog had seized him. Moral: Those who try to deceive may expect to be paid in their own coin. Those who try to entrap others are often caught by their own schemes. Quotable Quotes: The only real valuable thing is intuition. The intellect has little to do on the road to discovery. ... Albert Einstein When it's time to make a decision about a person or problem ... trust your intuition ... act. ... Bud Hadfield

Some of the greatest investors I have ever known invest by instinct, rather than research, study, or hard work. If you look back over history, this is the way the greatest fortunes have been built. ... Donald J. Trump Start with your own money and value your intuition. It's all about endurance in the beginning. Your dream and passion to succeed must be stronger than your fear of failure. ... Terri Bowersock The crazier the times are, the more important it is for leaders to develop and to trust their intuition. ... Tom Peters One of our greatest gifts is our intuition. It is a sixth sense we all have - we just need to learn to tap into and trust it. ... Donna Karan [browse collection of quotes and quotations] Lessons in life: If the innocent cock had not relied on its instincts in disbelieving the fox, it could have lost its life. The UK Metropolitan Police's counter-terrorism ad campaign carried the message: Terrorism. If you suspect it, report it. It is essentially a call to the public to trust their instincts and save lives by reporting any suspicious activity they may see. It is said that the late Masaru Ibuka, Japanese co-founder of Sony Corporation, drank herbal tea before every deal and if he had indigestion out of it, the deal would be called off. He quipped that he trusted his guts more than his mind.

Many top executives have attributed their successes to their gut instincts, hunch, inner voice, intuition, and words that sound as vague as the feelings they had when they made those critical career decisions. Robert Lutz rolled out the revolutionary Dodge Viper when he was president of Chrysler (now Daimler-Chrysler) despite unfavorable market forecast. He just had a gut instinct that the high-end car would be a success. Founder of the reality TV show American Idol, Simon Cowell, had his first successful hunch at BMG, producing albums with WWF Superstars, Teletubbies and Power Rangers themes which many thought was a crazy idea. Later, his gut instincts told him that reality TV shows would be a growing trend and, together with producer Simon Fuller, created the new Pop Idol reality show which saw instant success. Jack Welch, the former chairman and CEO of General Electric, was credited with re-inventing the company into the worlds most valuable corporation. In his books Jack: Straight from the Gut and Winning , he stressed that people should not be afraid of making business decisions when there is a lack of data and research. In his definition, gut instinct is pattern recognition based on past experience. Broadly-speaking, gut should be used in deal-making and business transactions. When you are presented with a deal proposal, the numbers usually look good because they are couched in the best possible light. Executives should look beyond these numbers to consider the intangible aspects of the deal. When it comes to working with people, gut should be used less. For instance, when hiring people, there is a tendency for potential employers to use their gut instincts to assess interviewees. Since there can be emotions attached to the stories that the interviewees tell, employers should avoid making these decisions based on gut feelings but rely instead on

strong references and qualitative information. On this point though, we think that instincts do play an important part even in human relations. We may see colleagues going about their work and somehow feel that they are not 'cut out for the job'. We could sense from the way the bosses treat us that our career with the company will be short-lived. We bump into people in the lift and know instantly that we have found our soulmates. We lunch with our business partners and conclude that they are not people we want to do business with. Back home, we see our kids turning very reserved and we can tell that something is not right; or they being very respectful and we can guess that they have a favor to ask or bad school grades to show. Although these gut feelings cannot be explained in rational terms, we take the necessary instinctive actions anyway and are often proved to be doing the right thing. How can you develop this intuition for decision-making? When should you trust your guts? There is no definite formula, but we would advocate that you follow some general guidelines:1. Whether you are overloaded with or are lacking in data and statistics, do not read too much into them. The figures may be accurate but the manner in which they are presented is usually biased. 2. If you have the luxury of time, step back from the problem and come back to it later. Often, when your mind is not focused on the problem, you are better able to look at the problem afresh and view it from different perspectives. 3. Before casting your decision in stone, run a subjective question through your mind. Ask yourself how you view the new deal, the business partners, the employees, or the company. Recently, we were shown a short clip about a major land-banking company. It started with a shot on the signboard displaying the

building name of their upmarket office premises, followed by one on the high-tech lift system of the premises. Ordinarily we would be impressed, but because they tried so hard to paint that big-time corporate profile, our gut feelings told us otherwise. Upon further questioning, they admitted that the company did not own that building and merely rented units in it. So much for the 'big-time' profile. 4. When all your trusted aides give you differing opinions, it means that the decision goes beyond rational thinking and calls for a creative solution. Let your instincts guide you. 5. Do not ignore the physical signs like feeling uneasy, having goose pimples, knot in stomach or sour taste in mouth, weak knees, sweaty palms, or insomnia. Sometimes, the best solution is not to make any decision, but to wait for an opportune moment or a change in circumstances. 6. Pictures speak volumes. Go through mentally what you saw. A real estate agent may show you a vacant property, yet you recall seeing laundry hung somewhere. There could be squatters on the property. If a foreign property is touted to reap huge investment gains, but the locals don't seem to be interested in buying into that area, there could be a history behind the property that you are not aware of. 7. Finally, while it is good to trust your gut instincts, we cannot do away with rational thinking altogether. Try to achieve a good balance between the two. Related Articles: Leaders must be decisive Problem Solving: Define Problem Turn Adversity into Opportunity