10: Intuitive Decision-making and Gut Feeling

When it comes to deciding whether to hire a job candidate, you can approach it in different ways. One approach is to create criteria that include requirements and preferences, where we consider all relevant factors, rate each factor, and then calculate a score. This analytical approach is known as a deliberative strategy. By contrast, an intuitive approach to making this decision is to simply ask yourself, “Can I work with this person?” and follow your gut feeling. A prevailing view in leadership literature is that leaders' decisions should be rational, analytical, strategic, data-driven, and evidence-informed. Intuition, on the other hand, is often regarded with skepticism and doubt. It is commonly seen as mysterious and unexplainable, or, at worst, as something unreliable. Our culture is filled with sayings like “look before you leap” and “think before you act,” which imply that our instincts are often flawed.