Welcome!

Intuition for Business

More studies are being conducted on intuition for business than ever before. Here is a sample from one that compiled the data from three studies and over 5000 study participants.* "These studies included participants from such major organizations as Walt Disney Enterprises and Tenneco Oil. To measure the actual uses of intuitive skills, a study was conducted on those who had scored in the top 10% of the intuition scale, including major executives at General Motors and Dow Chemical Company.

Top managers in every sample tested higher in intuitive skill than middle and lower-level managers, leading to the theory that the higher one goes in the hierarchy or management, the greater the need to employ intuition becomes; this skill would not be developed so consistently in independent cases, and must reflect an overall trend. These managers would of course possess natural intuitive ability, but through circumstance, had been forced to develop it further rather than keeping it repressed.

So why were these senior managers forced to develop intuitive ability? Top management positions require a greater capacity to solve complex problems and deal with uncertainty. Intuitive use in personal life also increased depending on the management level of the individual, more than twice as many high-level executives utilizing it, as compared to low-level managers.

100% of study participants agreed with the statements that: ‘many senior managers use Intuition in making decisions, at least to some extent’, ‘higher intuitive capabilities would contribute to greater success in business’, and ‘Intuition has a role to play in every facet of life.’ Effective use of intuition in leadership, decision-making and vision undoubtedly leads to greater company success and profit-margins, as many have revealed.

Research undertaken by the New Jersey Institute of Technology tested hundreds of business managers for intuitive ability. Of the managers which had doubled their company profits in the last five years, they found that over 90% had high intuitive ability.

*"The Intuitive Ability of Executives: Findings from Field Research" from W.H. Agor, The Logic of Intuitive Decision Making: A Research Based Approach for Top Management (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1986). IMI (Geneva), Global Report International Survey on Intuition. M. Sinclair, "The Use of Intuition in Management Decision-Making".

 

Intuition for Work Quiz

1) A problem at work arises, you...
a) get upset, know that it wasn't your fault
b) don't get why everybody is getting so worked up about: what problem?
c) take a deep breath and try to find a solution
d) get excited knowing that this "problem" will open up opportunities
e) pause, see the future, and know how this will work out so put a minimal amount of energy into it

2) You heard from a reliable source at work that your boss doesn't like you, you...
a) get sore that your boss doesn't like you, you've always been nice
b) don't care; you don't like this job anyway
c) try to figure out why, so you can fix it
d) are happy this has helped you make a decision you have been working on: see this as a sign to find a new job
e) tune into your boss and see it from his/her point of view, altering the dynamic

3) You are on the fifth month of a job search when you finally get an offer. It pays alright and seems ok but it is not what you set out to get and know you won't be happy. You...
a) are really upset that you need to take this but it isn't at all what you want
b) what the heck, you'll take it; it's better than nothing
c) make a pro and con list and revisit your finances wondering how many more months you can hold out
d) take this as a positive sign that things are finally starting to percolate and your spirits lift
e) open your mind to feel when your right job will come and utilize the wait time productively

4) Have a big opportunity with a client/new supervisor, but so far every idea you have proposed he has shot down, you...
a) are getting tired; you should quit while your ahead before you start to really bug him
b) stop pushing anything on him; can't sell an idea to someone who isn't in the market
c) look for patterns in his objections; eventually you'll understand his way of seeing things
d) you stop talking, start listening, and he opens up about what he really needs
e) you listen before you meet him or propose anything; when you finally speak, you nail it

Give yourself 5 points for every a), 4 for every b), 3 for every c), 2 for every d), and 1 for every e).

5-7: You're intuition is up and running. Hone it more so you can use it for everything. Click here to learn more.

8-11: You have a sense that there is a different, more effective way to handle things but you just can't quite put your finger on it. Intuition is the way you sense, but might not have ever named. Click here to learn more.

12-15: You work really hard and often have good judgment but it probably feels like you are treading water. Intuition would make life less of a struggle. Click here to learn more.

16-20: Gosh, you must be tired! All that energy put out, and so little back. Feeling like your gifts are unseen, and you have to take what you can get. Intuition can help get the juices flowing, and the confidence come back, till you are in your flow again. You really can't wait, click here to learn more.

 

“Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” -Steve Jobs

 


“Often you have to rely on intuition.” –Bill Gates