Consider the following scenario:
Large meeting room full of super experienced executives. One of them stands up and declares support for a certain strategy. I have a strong gut feeling it’s the right way to go. And sits down…
It’s easy to see such an executive encountering a large dose of skepticism and cynicism…
But I am here to advocate that they should take such declaration very seriously.
For many years I used to see myself as a rational person. And for me being rational meant dismissing intuition. Not entirely, but definitely on a professional level.
I’ll also admit that there was a chauvinist element to it – women tend to listen to their intuition, and for me it was irrational.
Today I believe that it’s irrational not to trust intuition. Here’s why:
Most of our decisions are based on pattern recognition.
We need it to survive.
For example, if you are in the woods and you see some pattern in the distance that reminds you of a bear, you better start running. It’s the logical thing to do.
Even though this can be a …Yeti.
It is logical because we can easily justify our call: It was brown, fluffy, at least as large as a person and it was moving…
But it can also be considered illogical if we change the situation a bit:
After a long walk, we come to a camping site and our friend declares: I’ve got a bad feeling about this place. I don’t think we should stay.
If they cannot easily justify it, we will probably ignore their warning and try to sway them into staying. We will address their call as intuitive, thus not worth taking seriously.
We’d probably be right not to take our friend’s intuition seriously, …unless our friend is an expert.
Intuition isn’t the opposite of logic. It just means the pattern we recognize cannot be easily turned into a clear logical statement or a narrative.
Intuitive pattern usually consists of numerous small indications none of which is strong enough by itself, but all together they paint a very clear picture that should be taken seriously.
The forest ranger from our story might have sensed a complex mix of smells, seen familiar patterns on the floor, recognized some similarity between this location and other problematic ones, heard some sounds…
So let’s go back to our meeting room and consider that the “gut feeling” statement came from one of the most experienced people in the room… We better take it seriously!
Same thing with our own intuitions. Let’s tune into them. Especially when they come from experience. Especially if we are men, and we’ve been taught to ignore them.
But don’t just listen to me:
Now what about you? Is there an intuitive attraction towards your brand? …I know, it’s not a very smooth transition to self-promotion, but it is what it is. Waiting for you on the other side of the contact form.