Frances E Vaughan, psychologist and author of ‘Awakening Intuition’ defines it as a ‘way of knowing…a way of recognising the possibilities in any situation’
Intuitive decisions come from a capacity to integrate and make use of both the left and right sides of the brain. Intuition is a product of both factual and feeling cues – unclouded by the deep personal ego involvement in the issue at hand.
Carl Jung, found in his research, (which has been recently corroborated by others), that those skilled in the use of intuition tend to have particular decision-making skills not normally possessed by others. Thus managers with good intuition can see new possibilities in any given situation. They have a sense of vision of the future and thus are better equipped to move their organisation in response to it. These managers are particularly adept at generating new ideas and providing ingenious new solutions to old problems; usually they function best in rapidly changing environments or crisis settings.

We remember talking to the Chief Exec of a technology firm. His biggest problem was not information. He was overwhelmed with information. His problem was knowing which information to attend to, which to act on. Many can relate to that.

In business, men often refer to their ‘gut feeling’ while women are more comfortable in accepting that they are calling upon their ‘feminine intuition’. Since we feel our emotions in the body, (especially in the abdomen) this explains why sensitivity to ‘how the body feels’ is so relevant in any discussion on intuition

If you ask such a person to explain how they know, they will be unable to explain the rationale behind their conclusions. At the risk of being labeled illogical or irrational, we quickly learn to keep such information to ourselves. Nevertheless, it is accepted that a highly developed intuition has its place in business.

In a recent lecture on “The Manager’s Dilemma:Analysis V Intuition” Mr R Gopalakrishnan (Exec Director of Tata Sons, and author of “The Case of the Bonsai Manager” said:

“‘Logic and analysis are very important to leadership not making mistakes, but they have limitations. Intuition is a powerful ally, after the powers of logic have been exhausted.  ‘Intuition is not a substitute to analysis. It is a companion to analysis.’

Elaborating, he said, “Knowledge is ‘what you know you know’. Intuition is ‘what you don’t know you know’. A combination of both is wisdom”

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