GNAWING THOUGHTS

MANY DECISIONS TO BE MADE

Endeavoring on a multi-phase project – such as building a business, creating a series of artworks, or writing a book – requires all of our facilities: emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual. Decisions at each phase are mountains to conquer and require a delicate balance of each facility. Is the decision emotionally-driven? Am I physically and mentally able to handle the workload? Does the decision align with my values, my morals, my spirituality? As you build towards a goal entirely driven by you, every decision adds up to the larger sum of your creation.

But there isn’t always time to analyze a situation. There isn’t always time to think about the implications of your decisions before making them. Sometimes your “gut instinct” about a business prospect, a splash of color, or a book title is what you have time to follow. That’s your intuition working for you. 

IMPULSE VS. INTUITION

Intuition, often confused with impulse, is not a knee-jerk decision based on what your dopamine receptors are telling you is the right answer. Rather, your intuition is a collection of experiences and knowledge synthesized so quickly and subconsciously that, in some instances, it feels like magic. While impulse is white hot, exhilarating, and feels like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, your intuition is a soft swell, a gentle guide who whispers in your ear “Remember that? Do this.” 

WHERE IS OUR INTUITION?

Conventional education trains us for conventional vocations. Generally, we are tediously and methodically taught how to gather, synthesize, analyze, and decide after we achieve success in a series of logical gates. We are taught that researching thoroughly, showing our work, and presenting our ideas in a digestible manner is the best way to make decisions.  Yet, top-performing business leaders say they often lead with intuition for company-altering decisions. So if intuition is dismissed in classrooms but embraced in boardrooms, what’s really going on?

A PUSH FOR DATA 

Around 2021, there was a large push for data-driven decision-making in business. Big data and the systems used to access, organize, and analyze it were becoming “democratized,” which is a fancy word for “becoming available to everyone.” 

The companies impressing the highest-of-net-worth investors were those telling compelling stories with data, and the people making these data-driven decisions possible were the data scientists, analytics engineers, business intelligence analysts, systems engineers, and a whole slew of other titles. In fact, Harvard Business Review even went so far as to call Data Scientist the “Sexiest Job of the 21st Century.”

I was fortunate enough to call myself a Business Intelligence Analyst during this time period. Though I am in no way an expert, I was a part of the army of data workers.

While greater access to information inevitably improved decision-making capabilities, it really did something more “optically” important: it legitimized the company’s decisions in a way that professional experience and “good vibes” were not, especially during this era’s unpredictable economic landscape.

Unfortunately, all of those data-driven underwriting models with double-digit rental increases and variable rate loans slotted in there because “the data supported it” didn’t work out for everyone when the economy shifted.

THE GUT SPELLS IT OUT

Despite the allure of data-driven decision-making, I still witnessed seasoned executives “going with their gut,” and I can’t stop thinking about it. In fact, other people can’t stop thinking about it, either. I have some research for you. 

Neil Gareth Shepherd, Bowen Lou, and John Maynard Rudd explore intuition in high-stakes business environments in their research “Going with the gut: Exploring top management team intuition in strategic decision-making.” After interviewing 27 senior executives across a variety of fields, they discovered a recurring trend: 

“Those with unwavering conviction in their assessments of their self-efficacy, who had high self-esteem, and an internal locus of control were more predisposed to rely on intuition.” 

In other words, those who are both self-motivated and confident in their abilities are more inclined to use intuition.

INTUITION ON DISPLAY

The easiest place to experience a person’s intuition in-action is on those who regularly embody their vocations: dancers, comedians, athletes, and performers of all kinds understand that confident improvisation – which is built from a strong relationship with your intuition –  is often your best asset. 

I spent 20 years in the dance world. Here’s an example of how I spent countless hours in studios. Imagine you’re in a choreography class that’s challenging you to lean into your intuition. You’re given a dance improvisation prompt: Imagine you’re a duck floating in a lake who’s just realized the rest of the flock has abandoned you. How would you tell that story through dance? GO. 

Most trained dancers could masterfully execute the idea in a few seconds or less. Dancers don’t get out a pen and paper for their SWOT analysis. They don’t ask four other people what they think. They just do it. It’s all about recall > synthetization > execution in about two seconds or less. Improvisation is intuition on display.

HOW DOES THIS APPLY TO BUSINESS?

Now, before you jump down my throat and say, “Emily, your dance improv class is not the same stakes as a multi-million dollar investment,” hear me out: I’ve been in meetings with experienced professionals making multi-million dollar investments from both data-driven and intuitive-based decisions. In fact, I’ve been on that data-driven side of the decision-making process. No matter how compelling of a data story I or someone else told, there were still instances where the decision was ultimately made for a more nebulous reason – for a reason that “just felt right.”

I propose we can use dance improvisation in the conference room without looking like performative assholes. I believe the principles of prompt-driven dance improvisation and other forms of artistic expression can meaningfully improve our intuition.

I just don’t know how yet.

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