Is your intuition an asset or a taboo at work?
By Mylène Grégoire, President and PCC coach of Mymosa &CO Consulting inc.
Intuition captivates the business world with its unique potential. Between insightful perceptions and the pitfalls of unconscious biases, are today’s leaders better off refining their intuitive skills to leverage them as a powerful tool for success?
Interest in intuition is on the rise in business circles. Exciting books have captivated millions of readers for decades, and, to date, Google Scholar indexes over 2,400,000 citations of articles, books, and other academic works on the subject. Icons such as Sir Richard Branson, Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, and Oprah Winfrey openly acknowledge that their success is largely rooted in their intuitive abilities.
THE DUALITY OF INTUITION
A 1994 study by Jagdish Parikh, Alden Link, and Friedrich Neubauer at Harvard Business School, involving 1,300 managers across nine countries, found that 80% of participants attributed their success to intuitive decision-making. Additionally, 75% reported using intuition alongside logic in their decision processes. However, nearly half were reluctant to publicly admit to relying on intuition.
Indeed, concerns about credibility, peer judgment, risks associated with intuitive decisions, and the myths surrounding intuition hinder its acceptance in the professional world. Despite this, intuition is widely applied in professional settings for tasks like recruitment, interpersonal development, and innovation.
Professional ethics suggest incorporating intuition alongside objective facts and analyses while remaining aware of potential biases to ensure transparent, fair, and justifiable decisions.
THE CREDIBILITY OF INTUITION
Several studies, including groundbreaking research by Bechara and Damasio, highlight the neurological basis of intuition by identifying its specific seats in the brain, notably the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, where emotional and bodily signals are integrated.
Authors like Malcolm Gladwell and Daniel Kahneman have also contributed significantly to the understanding of intuition, showing that first impressions can often be as accurate as, or even superior to, deliberate decisions, while cautioning about susceptibility to biases.
In the realm of psychometric assessment, intuition has a notable place, being incorporated as an evaluative criterion in several tests, such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), Decision Style Inventory (DSI), and Cognitive Process Profile (CPP). The International Coaching Federation (Quebec division) mentions "intuition" three times in its presentation of essential skills for effective coaching.
BIASES IN INTUITION
While intuition is defined as a direct, immediate knowing of the truth without reasoning or experience, it can still be tinged with unconscious biases. Here are a few examples:
Fantasy Bias: Excess enthusiasm can lead to hasty recruitment decisions without proper contextual evaluation.
Fear Bias: Fear of failure might be misinterpreted as a signal to reject an opportunity, which could actually be a valuable chance for advancement.
Ego Bias: The desire for a favorable perception can sometimes subtly influence actions as if guided by intuition, leading to choices driven more by personal ambitions than genuine needs—such as writing a first book to impress others.
Old Wounds Bias: Past experiences, like dealing with a difficult former colleague, may negatively color perceptions of new professional relationships displaying similar traits.
How do individuals with strong intuitive abilities navigate these biases to master the art of intuitive discernment?
DEVELOPING A REFINED EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
Leaders who excel at tuning into what feels right within themselves develop refined emotional intelligence, manifesting in their ability to understand and interpret their own emotions as well as those of others. They hone their intuition through internal exploration, self-reflection, and increased awareness, cultivating heightened attentiveness to emerging signals while staying vigilant against potential biases.
Many of these leaders report using mindfulness or other mental-clearing practices to foster conditions conducive to intuitive insights. Whatever the case, a good dose of courage may be needed to dare to follow one’s intuition.
WHEN INTUITION LEADS TO MISTAKES…
Mistakes can arise from intuition as much as from thorough analysis. In the business world, intuitive errors are not always seen as failures. Studies by Chris Argyris, Donald Schön, and Amy Edmondson of Harvard Business School reveal that errors encourage innovation and organizational learning. Understanding intuitive mistakes, as Daniel Kahneman explains in Thinking, Fast and Slow, helps decision-makers refine their judgments. Similarly, Gary Klein, author of The Power of Intuition, underscores that these errors offer valuable opportunities to enhance decision-making skills.
EMBRACING INTUITIVE PRACTICE
For over 25 years, Dr. Michael Ray taught creativity at Stanford, encouraging leaders to reconnect with their intuition through art, play, and introspection. Ray regarded intuition as a way of life, a tool for navigating modern challenges with a profound understanding of oneself.
Companies like Cirque du Soleil and Moment Factory emphasize creativity and experiential innovation, where intuition plays a central role. Lightspeed and Ubisoft Montreal also foster environments where rapid, instinctive decisions spur innovation and enable agile responses to market changes.
When balanced with self-knowledge, experience, and critical reflection, intuition remains a highly valuable tool for professionals and decision-makers who understand and appreciate its potential.
Mylène Grégoire, president and coach at Mymosa &CO, author, speaker and founder of the online training programs Brillez au boulot and From Gut to Success.
mymosa.co
REFERENCES
ARGYRIS, Chris; SCHÖN, Donald. Organizational Learning: A Theory of Action Perspective (1978), Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley. 356 pages.
BECHARA, A., DAMASIO, H., Tranel, D., & Damasio, A. R. Deciding Advantageously Before Knowing the Advantageous Strategy. Science, (1997). 275(5304), 1293-1295.
BRANSON, Sir Richard : [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojZD9yhFTFw]
EDMONSTON, Amy. The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth. Wiley (2018), 256 pages.
ENTREPRENEUR LES ÉCHOS
[https://entrepreneurs.lesechos.fr/mavie/developpement-personnel/lintuition-un- extraordinaire-outil-pour-le-succes-entrepreneurial-2020020]
GLADWELL, Malcom. Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking (2006), Back Bay Books, 320 pages.
GOOGE SCHOLAR : [https://scholar.google.com/]
ICF Québec [https://icfquebec.org/img/client/page_web/pdf/ICF_CoreCompetency_French.pdf]
JOBS, Steve : [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBWNImKch4k]
KAHNEMAN, Daniel. Thinking, fast and slow Random House Audio (2013). Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 512 pages.
KLEIN, Gary. The Power of Intuition: How to Use Your Gut Feelings to Make Better Decisions at Work (2004), Publisher Crown Currency, 352 pages.
LAROUSSE – Dictionnaire (pour définir l’intuition)
MUSK, Elon: [https://www.youtube.com/shorts/cv-8W0d39ZQ]
PARIKH, J. and NEUBAEUR, F. and LANK, A. G., “Intuition: The New Frontier of Management”; Wiley-Blackwell (1994), 328 pages.
RAY, Michael L. The Highest Goal: the Secret That Sustains You in Every Moment. Berrett-Koehler Publishers (2005), 216 pages.
WINFREY, Oprah : [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4ke25PUamg]