There are many resources that will be helpful in decision making in a business environment, but the most important of them all is gut instinct.
Gut instinct is important because of the speed at which it kicks in while making a decision.
Gut instinct is so spontaneous that it makes your body respond within seconds even before your mind can think.
An article in forbes.com says that instinct is a vital survival mechanism which has played a big hand in the human evolution.
'Hesitation? Fear? Perhaps ramifications you hadn’t thought about, like the sudden need to double customer support to accommodate the great idea you’ve just had? Regard these reactions with the utmost care, as a person’s good feeling or instinctive hesitation could have big implications on how your plan will work out,' the author states in the article .
But most people would think before trusting their instinct because they might have got it wrong before.
'When we let our emotions bear sway without an accompanying cost/benefit and risk analysis, we might be hurtling down a path that is 100% wrong. In my own life, I can’t remember a time when “putting a gap between the stimuli and the response",' the author points out.
Another problem with trusting the gut feeling is self-deception.
'Another risk to beware in following your instincts is the tendency of some individuals, and even leaders, to wield their instincts as a kind of “God Card.” They declare that their instincts have spoken to them about a person, project or course of action, and all discussion on the matter is done,' the author says.
The right approach for trusting an instinct is by being balanced.
In some places we must use our emotional gut feeling and at times we need to be rational.
We must develop our skills to balance between emotional and factual analysis, this enables us to capture critical aspects of both.
