Relying on Intuition in the Digital Age

Today, it is easier than ever to get our hands-on data. Living in the digital age, we have access to so much information at our disposal that we often believe it is all we need to make successful business decisions. But is this really the case?

Despite the importance of big data and analytics, organizations cannot only rely on technology to become successful. Even the most data-driven organizations will have to factor human intuition when analyzing statistics, algorithms, and information. People still need to make sense of the data and use their own experience when making highly sophisticated decisions.

Intuition enables leaders to tap into their previous experiences, backgrounds, and knowledge to make decisions in rapidly-changing environments. They also rely on it when there is ambiguity due to a lack of data or contradictions in the data.

However, using intuition in decision-making shouldn’t undermine the importance of data. After all, technology can predict human behavior through highly developed algorithms, and data can demonstrate correlation, which is necessary when making strategic business decisions. But relying on data alone can be impractical in certain situations since it doesn’t incorporate people’s unique knowledge and experience.

In fact, many successful entrepreneurs like Steve Jobs, Elon Musk and Bill Gates have relied on their intuition to do business. They are not the only ones. According to PwC Global Data and Analytics Survey, 59 percent of decision-makers say the analysis they require relies primarily on human judgment rather than machine algorithms.

The key, it seems, is to blend data analytics with intuition. By combining data, expertise, and business acumen, organizations can better solve complex problems efficiently and more effectively.