Send to KindleGut Feelings
I was new to the organization and not exactly a technical expert on the job itself but I just knew we needed to take action – now! I had a feeling; that famous gut feeling that we all get from time to time. I had no empirical data to support my gut and at the time the organization was in the throes of Total Quality Management and we were all worshiping at the feet of W. Edwards Deming. One of Deming’s precepts was that decisions should only be made when supported by data; gut feelings were to be suppressed.
It turned out I was right and ever since then I’ve trusted those gut feelings. They’ve never let me down.
I’m not suggesting that leaders should make all decisions based on what might be just gas. The vast majority of decisions should be based on careful analysis of all available data. To do otherwise leads to knee-jerk reactions that cause more problems than they solve. In fact, even a strong gut feeling should be backed up with hard facts, time permitting.
But that feeling shouldn’t be ignored. I firmly believe that what we call a gut feeling is really a reaction of the subconscious mind. Deep in our brains there’s a memory or piece of knowledge that, while not consciously obvious, is providing an answer. We may not be able to explain why we feel that a particular course of action is correct – we just know it is.
I have no empirical evidence to prove this theory. I just have a gut feeling.
