Many business owners make decisions based on their gut instincts, but this isn’t always the best way to go about it.
Fact Trumps Intuition
I’m not a big advocate of only following your gut instincts. I think it does come into play, but in a very, very small way. I think leaders opting to mind their gut feelings with their intelligence and knowledge often arrive at the less desirable option.
Unfortunately, gut feelings typically arise when you don’t have enough information, the right information,or any information at all. Our first tendency is usually to subconsciously decide what we want to do before we actually figure out why we want to do it.
The concern I have with relying only on your gut is that sometimes your gut intuition may be based on inaccurate or irrelevant information. If you don’t apply all the facts or possibilities, missing a step or process can certainly sidetrack coming up with the appropriate or right answer in the decision-making process.
I am a firm believer that fact trumps intuition. Getting information will always lead to increased success. I think gut instinct does play a role because you’re going to have to be able to emotionally back the decision. The fact-finding process will help you come up with the most successful answer.
Decision-Making Tips
Here are some decision-making tips to help you avoid making snap decisions:
- Resolve the Situation Using Research and Analyzing All Angles—Looking at the big picture is very important. Decision making can go wrong if you look at it only from a short-term focus. It should be looked at from short and long-term perspective to insure it plays a key part in meeting the company goals.
- Create an Outline—As you start to go through the decision-making process, create an outline and write down your ideas and thoughts. Keeping the ideas visual ensures that you continue to consider all the relevant information. It also helps to clarify your thinking, therefore enhancing your decision-making skills and the success you’re after.
- Step Away from the Office—As you start to gather information and input, build in time so you can thoroughly think through the situation out of the office, while you’re relaxing. This allows you to approach the decision from different perspectives and allows you to get different ideas.
- Don’t Play the Blame Game—If the decision you’re making is based on a situation where there is an issue that’s occurred, don’t play the blame game.
- Get Team Buy-In—Gather ideas and insights from experts in the area or those that are affected by the decision, get their buy-in. This will help with their ownership in the decision, and if it’s done in a group setting, it presses individuals to be creative and think out-of-the-box.
- Be the Devil’s Advocate—Have someone or a predetermined group play the roll of “Devil’s Advocate”. This can help identify problem areas or barriers that can cause implementation issues. Once you put together an implementation strategy, have all parties provide feedback so you can ensure a smooth transition for the decision that your about to implement.
Decision-Making Tips Versus Gut Instincts
There are a couple small advantages to using your gut instinct to make a decision:
- You don’t have to spend time doing research and bringing in a group for buy-in, therefore you’re going to be able to make the decision much quicker and efficiently (Although the chance of it being accurate probably drops tremendously).
- You’re emotionally tied to the decision, therefore you’re going to successfully drive towards the objective that you’re after.
You may feel much more comfortable making a decision using your gut, but I don’t think it’s the key tool that you’re going to want to use in the decision-making process. I think it’s extremely important that you use decision-making tips to make your decision because you’ll be:
- Looking at the short- and long-term picture.
- Involving the experts and the people that are going to be affected by the decision. Doing extensive research and analysis to discover and understand the best possible options.
- Bringing in group input so everybody has buy-in and ownership.
- Pro-actively removing barriers by finding out what could go wrong.
- Putting together an implementation schedule using notes to insure that you capture all relevant information and get the best outcome possible.
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