Logic is slow progress in business

Winston Churchill's intuition saved his life.

There was a bomb near Churchill when he was dining at 10 Downing Street in London. Before a second could land at his exact location, he told everyone to evacuate.

Do you believe intuition should be ignored in business and other aspects of life? Was Winston's decision based on luck? Should we rely only on logic and reasoning?

Let's learn more about intuition and what others are saying about it.

What is intuition and where it come from?

Intuition can arise instantly in any situation in life, especially when faced with decisions in various aspects such as career choices, selecting a partner, starting a business, or innovating.

Those who know and have experienced intuition have achieved success and breakthroughs, while those who relied solely on explicit knowledge made slow progress. Intuition is the ability to know or consider something based on instinctive feelings rather than conscious reasoning.

It's the ability to know something without analytical reasoning, bridging the gap between the conscious and non-conscious parts of our mind.

Intuition can arise from pattern-matching, recognizing correlations in patterns from past experiences to the present moment. The brain processes information patterns through both explicit and tacit knowledge.

We have two different thought systems. According to Daniel Kahneman, system 1 is fast and intuitive; system 2 is slower and relies on reasoning.

When is it appropriate to use it, and when is it not?

Relying on intuition without prior expertise and knowledge can lead to wrong decisions. The intuitive decision you make is likely to be incorrect, especially in areas where you lack expertise or knowledge in business and life.

The most important condition is expertise. If I am a novice mountain climber, my intuition about whether the route is safe or not will not be accurate because I have no previous knowledge on which to base that decision.

Intuition doesn't apply to problems that have clear decision rules, criteria, and abundant data for analysis.

But calculated decisions in business, life, and problem-solving can lead to failure.

Quaker Oats, a major food and beverage company, made a strategic decision based on calculated market analysis that ultimately led to significant failure. Quaker Oats acquired Snapple, a popular beverage brand known for its iced tea and fruit drinks, for $1.7 billion.

The calculated analysis at the time suggested that the market for non-carbonated beverages, like Snapple's products, was poised for tremendous growth.

However, the decision proved to be a major setback for Quaker Oats.

You won't achieve as much success, make breakthroughs, or innovate with pure logic and analytics.

Intuition in science

This view of science as objective and logical is incomplete because it leaves no room for the observer's emotions, feelings, and intuitions.

If that were the case, scientific and medical problem-solving would be slow and unimaginative. Science evolves slowly through logic but takes leaps and bounds with creativity and intuition

Eric Berne's work on intuition led to his useful view of the human mind as having three parts, which he called child, adult, and parent ego states. The child ego state contains wants, needs, feelings, and intuition.

The adult ego state functions like a computer; it is able to think, analyze, and process information in a logical fashion. The parent ego state contains all the rules and 'shoulds' we have learned from parental figures.

At all times, we function in one of these ego states. The child ego state's creativity and intuition are important for problem-solving. Berne called this part of the child ego state 'the little professor' (McCormick, 1977).

Intuition, in many occasions, has led to success. You can be stuck at solving a problem or finding the right solution, but all of a sudden, intuition guides you to find an innovative solution.

It does have a sense of guidance on whether to proceed or not with a decision in many areas of life, like marriage, a project, or a career path.

Intuition helps reduce cognitive load, and the ability to instant respond.

Some examples of people who used their intuition and shaped their success.

Many successful people in different fields relied on or leveraged their intuition. To name a few:

Marie Curie, the pioneering physicist and chemist, often relied on intuition in her scientific discoveries. Her intuitive understanding of radioactive elements led to groundbreaking work, including the discovery of radium and polonium.

Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group, has relied on intuition throughout his entrepreneurial journey. From starting a mail-order record business to expanding into various industries, Branson's ability to trust his instincts and take calculated risks has been a key factor in Virgin's success.

Director of Global Technical Support at Evernote, Heather Wilde says using her intuition helped the company’s customer satisfaction rate.

Intuition in designing the best user experiences

Intuition is not only used in making decisions but is also heavily employed and adopted in designing intuitive products, whether digital or tangible

Successful products are those that customers use without relying on reason or logic; the product itself affords intuitive use.

Designing an intuitive user experience is one of the most important factors in business now. Many fail to understand how to be intuitive and empathize.

Intuition is leverged in several areas when designing best experience:

• Understanding User Needs

• Solving Design Challenges

• Empathy and User-Centric Design

• Innovative Solutions

• Anticipating User Actions

My point of view, experience and observation

It's something inside of you. It instantly connects things together. It naturally informs you. Take a moment and listen to it. Process what it is telling you. You have to trust it. Remember, Winston Churchill's intuition saved his life; others' intuition led them to success.

In my perspective, intuition comes from previous experiences, expertise, and knowledge, where your brain links and connects from your past knowledge and experiences. It instantly informs you on how to proceed.

You don't decide whether you use your intuition or logic; it naturally presents itself out of the blue. Blend it into your piece of work, and I believe it will do wonders. Don't ignore it.

If you work on a project, intuition could come instantly—after your brain has consumed, learned, and understood a lot about the problem—to inform you of the right direction that will lead to a better approach, guide you to a different direction, or innovate.

Some of the projects I've worked on involved learning about the challenges. Instantly, I visualize the approach, the 'how,' what to look for, and how to create a full picture. I have no idea why I decided to use a certain approach and toolkit while I am still early in the project, but guess what? I did great, and the outcomes were staggering with the approach and the tool that my intuition had informed me about.

I get great feelings about some projects from the get-go; my intuition is trying to tell me something

I've noted that a few companies, particularly in the strategy and innovation business functions, now include a requirement for having deep intuition in their job descriptions. I believe more companies in the creative sphere will increasingly require knowledge-based intuition skills.

Cultivate your intuition, harness it and hone it, it's a biological super power.

Ways to develop your intuition:

• Cultivate Self-Awareness: Understand your own thoughts, emotions, and reactions. Regular self-reflection can help you become more aware of your instincts and gut feelings.

• Meditation and Mindfulness: Practices such as meditation and mindfulness can help quiet the mind, making it easier to tune into your intuition.

• Trust Your Instincts: Pay attention to your initial gut feelings in different situations.

• Learn from Experience: Reflect on past experiences where your intuition was correct. Analyze situations where your gut feeling guided you in the right direction.

• Expose Yourself to New Experiences: Intuition often develops through exposure to a variety of situations. Embrace new experiences, challenge yourself, and step outside your comfort zone.

• Pay Attention to Body Signals: Your body often reacts to situations before your conscious mind does. Pay attention to physical sensations such as tension, relaxation, or unease.

It's part of the package as a human being that contributes to guiding decision-making, problem-solving, and overall well-being. Your intuition is your inspiration

What are your thoughts on this? I would love to hear your feedback.

Thanks for reading!

Ahmed