In the Fifth Discipline, Peter Senege elegantly sums up the approach as: “People with high levels of personal mastery can not afford to choose between reason and intuition, or head and heart, any more than they would choose to walk on one leg or see with one eye.” A blink, after all, is easier when you use both eyes.
Intuition is also an ethical principle which attempts to justify self serving decisions and behaviours. Following case is based on the intuition principle which is a self serving principle. (Hellriegel, Slocum et al. 1998)
The administrators at Southwest elementary school in Lexington, North Carolina, applied a get tough attitude towards sexual harassment. They accused six year old Jonathan Prevette of sexual harassment after he kissed a classmate on the cheek. Jonathan was promptly suspended from school. When the school board was exposed to international ridicule, it reduced the charge to “unwanted and unwelcome touching” and returned Jonathan to class.
3.0 Could Intuitive skills be planned and practised? Or does it lead to improper Decision making?
3.1 Practise and Planning
Psychologist’s have a term to describe who are in usually close to their gut feeling as high intuitive. Practise is the most important thing. “Gut instinct is basically a form of pattern recognition” says Howard Gardner, a Harvard professor and psychologist. The more you practise and plan the more patterns you intuitively recognise. (Stewart, 2002)
And according to the article of (How to develop Intuition) the author emphasize on saying that you need to practise intuition starting with small everyday matters. Such as,
- On a Saturday morning for breakfast... should you eat pancakes or omelette on toast... close your eyes, take a few deep breaths to access that place of inner peace inside you, then think about the two choices... Go with the one which makes you calm, serene or makes you feel better.
- For that party on Friday night, should you wear the black dress or the white dress - taking a few calming breaths, go deep inside and ask yourself the question... then resurface and go with the choice that makes you feel peaceful.
- What topic should you select for that important speech you are about to make... Go access your intuition; the answer will come to you.
- If you are in a financial crisis and need to come up with some money... go ask your intuition... you will get an answer about what actions to take.
The author of the article continues to state that Intuition manifest in different ways for different people and advises to develop intuition slowly starting small, so that it will help Individuals to understand how well it will work for each person, and sometimes it may work in multiple ways. So that you will know your own individual characteristic responses and what's right for you once you keep polishing your intuitive abilities.
The Above statements leads to the first aspect which is being argued by most of the scholars, practising and planning in a step by step fashion leads to intuitive thinking which makes appropriate decisions. But is the above saying is true and does this really happen in present scenarios is a problem that has to be addressed.
3.2 Does Practise and Planning really lead to good decisions?
For most managers, planning isn’t about making decisions. It’s about choices that have already been made. In the fall of 2005, Marakon Associates, in collaboration with the Economists Intelligence Unit, surveyed senior executives from 156 large companies world wide in order to find out how they developed long range plans and how effectively they thought their planning processors which was done in a step by step fashion drove strategic decisions, as a result of the survey it was confirmed the timing and the structure of planning were obstacles for good decision making. (Mankins & Steele, 2006)
Furthermore, according to Mankins & Steele, 2006 there are two major drawbacks to such a rigid schedule. The first might be called the time problem. Practised secludes or step by step planning processors neither does nor gives executives sufficient time to address the issues that most affect important decisions.
An example that could be taken is Boeing took almost two years to decide to outsource major activities such as wing manufacturing.
Secondly there’s the timing problem. Which means the timing of the process can create problems. When a new competitor enters a market, for instance or a rival introduces a new technology, managers must act quickly and decisively to safeguard the companies performance. Therefore in real world managers make decisions in an intuitive way, often motivated by an immediate need for action. (Mankins & Steele, 2006)
Therefore constrained by the structured processors managers face two choices they can either not address the complex issues or they can address them through some process which has been systematic and which does not suit the situation.
According to Hendry Mintzberg Managers favour verbal communications. Thus, they are more likely to gather data and to make decisions in a relational or interactive way than in a systematic step by step fashion. (Wood, Wallace et al. 2001)
And also studies have revealed that managers spend their 60 percent of their working time in interacting with others about 25 percent of their time on desk based work, some 7 percent on the telephone, and 3 percent walking the job.
Further more it has been shown that communicating orally with others is a key component of success in the business world, and thus it increases a manager’s effectiveness or skill as a good decision maker and contributes directly or indirectly to organizational performance. (Hargie, Dickson et al., 1999)
In a survey conducted on executives by a student of Harvard Business School, respondents said that they use their intuitive skills as much as they use their analytical abilities, but they credited 80% of their success to Instinct. (Buchanan & O’Connell, 2006)
Considering all the Factors as stated by Mankins & Steele (2006, p. 84) if done right, Planned and practised intuitive skills can have an enormous impact on a manager’s performance and would lead to long term value decisions. By embracing decision focused planning processors it will certainly improve the quality and the quantity of managerial decisions.
As Mark Reckitt, a director of group strategy at Cadbury Schweppes, puts it: “Continues, decision focused strategic planning has helped me and our top management team to streamline its agenda and work with business units and functional management to make far better business strategy and commercial decisions.”
4.0 Does the nature of the managerial work effect Intuition?
As mentioned by Wood, Wallace et al. (2001) Managers work fast, do a variety of things and are frequently interrupted Thus they do not have a quite a lot of time to think and perform intuitively in situations. But does this happen in real world’s scenarios is an aspect which has to be addressed.
One decision-making tool—human intuition—seems to offer a reliable alternative to painstaking fact gathering and analysis. Scientific research Encourage that, top managers feel increasingly confident, when faced with complicated choices, they can just trust their gut. Indeed, a survey that was conducted in May 2002 by executive search firm Christian & Timbers reveals that fully 45% of corporate executives now rely more on instinct than on facts and figures in running their businesses. (Eric Bonabeau, 2003)
Further more decision making consultant Gary Klein expressers that Intuition is at the centre of the decision making process in current organizations.
It seems that intuition emerges from the sub-conscious. A successful CEO correctly analyzes a situation faster than a top MBA student. The CEO draws upon a wealth of information stored in the memories.
The brain gathers information stored in memory and “packages” it as a new insight or solution. The successful CEO experiences the intuition; (Frantz, 1997) which means that the nature of the managerial work would lead to an average potential of intuitive decision making rather than interrupting it.
5.0 Intuition how does it help Managers?
An expert’s experience allows him to recognize the pattern in a situation and draw on previously learned information associate with that pattern to arrive at the decision choice quietly. The result is the intuitive decision maker can decide rapidly based on what appears to be very limited information. Below mentioned is some of the case analysis of how Intuitive skills of managers had helped them to succeed.
John Sculley, formerly chief executive officer of Apple Computers, is reported to have made the following statement of Intuition when he assumed control of Apple: “ I intend to approach decision making from the right side of the brain: it is very intuitive. Just like a sailor can sniff the air and known when a storm is coming up, i have always been good at sniffing the air and knowing when the time is right to make a course of correction, or when to make a high investment” (Wood, Wallace et al. 2001)
One of the next generation leaders Sheryl Sandberg COO, Facebook says that she was surprised and impressed by how much of national and global economic growth was being driven by technology. Which lead her to the most innovative decisions.
According to (Frantz, 1997), Chrysler chairman Robert Eaton and Albert Einstein have one thing in common they both found value in using their intuition. The cover of a recent issue of Forbes read, “Company of the Year. Chrysler: Smart, Disciplined, Intuitive”. Also Eaton stated, “I have put so much faith in analysis and quantification and other areas of left-brain thinking, I’ve often missed the forest for all the well-examined trees. Over the past few year’s I’ve been on sort of a personal crusade at Chrysler to legitimize what, for lack of a better term, I refer to as right-brain thinking”
If managers have the creative and innovative ability needed it would benefit their organisations to survive in an increasingly competitive environment. A study of 200 managers from eight companies gives an answer to this question. If intuition is an indication of creativity and innovation, we find that almost 25 per cent of all managers were primarily intuitive when solving problems and making decisions.
The concept of intuition and other decision functions is based on Jung’s typology. Is intuition in managers an important asset to their organisations? An investigation of problem-solving and decision-making styles of 33 managers related to organisational effectiveness throws some light on this question. What is called the “creative-innovative” decision-making style was found in 23 per cent of the managers. Therefore it is suggested that intuition as decision-making style appears to be related to organisational effectiveness. And managers who are intuitive are more effective than others. (Anderson, 2000)
6.0 Intuition where it goes wrong
Research has proved that Intuitive thinking leads to effective decision making by managers, of course it does. But is this the case all the time? Or does it also leads to ineffective decision making? Following cases analyses the the dark side of innovative thinking.
6.1 Sri Lanka throwing good money after bad?
According to (Samarajiva,2008) - "Mihin Air was commenced Sept 29, 2007 with pure intentions. It was active for 13 months. But there were so many shortcomings in the management and the CEO was removed. "After study, we are taking steps to make the organization profitable. . . . Over the 13 months, 215,617 passengers have travelled on this airline. There were revenues of 2.4 million rupees.
"But there were unnecessary expenditures. There were losses of 3,200 million rupees. . . . The above are translated excerpts from the statement made in Parliament by the Minister of Ports and Civil Aviation, Chamal Rajapaksa. Is this a case of throwing good money after bad decisions or is this case of not learning from past mistakes but of compounding the errors.
According to the article of Opportunities in the newspaper “The Hindu” Misplaced urgency can create a major problem. About 80% of bad decisions have been made on a quick impulse or `gut feeling' of smart, thinking managers. Even though instinct might have helped in the past that could be pure co-incidence. Get the facts right, before making crucial decisions. Be patient. Don't hurry when there is no need, are some of the tips that could recommended. We are conditioned to make quick decisions, so we sometimes fail to make a proper analysis. It is better to look beyond immediate results and focus on long-term vision and strategy.
6.2 Overcoming bad decisions
Innovate or fall behind: the competitive imperative for virtually all businesses today is that simple. Achieving it is hard, however, because innovation takes place when different ideas, perceptions, and ways of processing and judging information collide. That, in turn, often requires collaboration among various players who see the world in inherently different ways. As a result, the conflict that should take place constructively among ideas all too often ends up taking place unproductively among people who do not naturally understand one another. Disputes become personal, and the creative process breaks down. (Leonard & Straus, 1997) This kind of decision making structure can go a long way toward unearthing the opinions of all involved, including those who feel left out.
And also Richard Peterson, a psychiatrist who applies behavioural economics theory in his investment consulting Business, advises clients to cultivate emotional self awareness, notice their moods as they happen, and reflect on how their mood may influence their decisions. In particular, he advises people to pay close attention on feelings of excitement and fear and ask when such a feeling arises , “What causes this? Where did these feelings come from? What is the context in which I’m having these feelings?” By consciously monitoring moods and the related decisions, Peterson says, people can become more confidence users of their gut feeling. (Buchanan & O’Connell, 2006)
But for executives taught to methodically frame problems, consider alternatives, collect data, weigh the options and then decide seem like a dispensable exercise. Or at least nota critical tool in decision making
7.0 Conclusion
Making decisions is the most important job of any executive. It’s also the toughest and the riskiest. Further more decisions are the essence of management. Managers are judged on the outcome, Bad decisions can damage a business and a carrier.
Intuition is one of the important key elements in the decision making process which help managers to make successful decisions in risky and uncertain environments, Indeed making Intuitive decisions and making them happening quickly are the hall marks of high performing managers. What set the top performers apart from the others is the quality, speed and the execution of their decision making.
Accordingly scholars argue that the nature of a managers job make it impossible for intuition to be done in practise. But most scenarios and cases had proven that intuition emerges from sub-conscious and experience that basically the nature of the managerial work increase intuitive skills.
Another aspect is the contest between rationality and gut instinct pervades the research on decision making. One, Blaise Pascal argued “The heart has its reasons of which reason knows nothing” Another Lewis Carroll, said “Use your head” The right approach is to seek the insights of both. According to research most of the executives agrees on the fact that decisions made on the issue is far more worth the effort than planning and practising processors. In conclusion with a saying,
“A good decision executed quickly beats a brilliant decision implemented slowly”
8.0 References
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Wallace, W., Schermerhorn, Z. & Osborn, H.(Eds.). (2001). Organizational Behaviour a Global Perspective: (2nd ed.). John Wiley & sons Australia, Ltd.
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Buchanan, L& O’Connell, A. (200). The Romance of the Gut. Harvard Business Review, January, 40-41
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Robbins, S.R., & DeCenzo, D. A. (Eds.). (2007). Fundamentals of management, (5th ed.).
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Hellriegel, Slocum & Woodman.(Eds.). (1998) Organizational Behaviour: (8th ed.). South Western College Publishing
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Frantz, R. (1997, April). Intuition at Work. Retrieved January 8, 2009 from
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Mankins, C.M. (2006). Stop making Plans Start making Decisions. Harvard Business Review, January, 76-84
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Samarajiva, R. (2008, December). Sri Lanka throwing good money after Bad? Lanka Business online.
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Leonard, D & Straus, S. (1997). Putting your Companies whole Brain to work. Harvard Business Review, July.
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Anderson, A. (2000). Are Intuitive Managers more Effective? Journal of managerial Psychology.
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Hargie, D. W. O, Dickson, D., & Tourish, D. (1999). Communication in Management, Gower Publishing Ltd.
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Stewart, A. T. (2002). How to think with your Gut? Harvard Business Review, November.
