When NOT To Trust Your Gut

When NOT To Trust Your Gut

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Experience can be a fantastic, even irreplaceable asset. Experience and knowledge enable us to develop pattern recognition to quickly make sense of new situations. This is what people often refer to as “gut instinct.” Its magical powers aren’t so mysterious when we understand that it is an unconscious process of observing and comparing the situation to previous experiences, looking for clues about the best action.?


The trouble with over-using pattern recognition is that some situations are different from what we experienced in the past, but in ways that are so subtle as to be overlooked or disregarded.?


Even the brightest, most experienced leaders can over-rely on experience, instinct, or habits. Three common scenarios call for deliberate thinking and decision-making.?

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Times Of Flux

Most of us like to think we will recognize forthcoming changes, and sometimes that is true. But that doesn’t mean we understand their significance. Mergers, acquisitions, and restructurings are good examples of situations with unintended consequences.?


Even when leaders promise that “nothing will change,” it is wise to assume that some things will. How can anyone prepare for change under these circumstances? This is the time to rely on ourselves and our resilience. Ask yourself these questions:


  1. What am I great at? (Naming three or four things is more helpful than simply stating your “superpower.”)
  2. Of the things I am great at, which do I genuinely love to do?
  3. How do the things I am great at and love to do make me valuable at work?

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Asking yourself these questions requires conscious thinking; it also helps make options more prominent and thus helps reduce feelings of helplessness.??


High-Stakes Situations

High-stakes decisions, such as who to be in a close relationship with, how much to pay for a home, and where to work, often come with an initial rush of energy and optimism. Unfortunately, enthusiasm can cause us to overlook important details.?

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Instead of rushing to act, channeling energy into exploration can be productive and fun. Once we know what we want, we think about how to get it and even reverse engineer it. It might seem like a buzzkill at first, but landing on the right decision when the stakes are high will make any temporary frustration pale by comparison.?

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A Crisis Scenario

Even the most seasoned leader can be thrown off their game when disaster strikes. Overcome with fear and stress, our gut screams to run away cut ties, or unload the problem onto someone else. When exhausted and fearful, we might seek sympathy by telling others how unfair it is that we are stuck with responsibility for the failings of others.??

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Our gut, on its own, can’t always be trusted to guide our actions - especially when emotions run high. No matter how strong the impulse to act may be, our instincts can lead us to decisions that only exacerbate the crisis. Our impulses will arise nonetheless and are helpful as clues, but they are lousy dictators.?

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In a crisis, ask yourself, “What would you advise someone else to do in your situation?”

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Experience that informs our gut instinct is useful, but can lead us into the decision trap of overconfidence, causing us to miss subtle but significant distinctions between a new situation and prior experiences. However, we shouldn’t completely ignore our gut. Instead, we can think of our instinctive reactions as clues and explore them to see if they are helpful or a distraction to us seeing what is really going on.?


For more ways to enhance your leadership, pick up my newest book!? Meta-Leadership: How to See What Others Don’t and Make Great Decisions draws on a vast body of research from psychology and business to show how great leaders can improve their judgment and decision-making for more robust, more profitable results.?


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Sandra Poirier Smith

CEO, Smith Publicity, Inc.--Book, Author and Expert Brand Promotion--Celebrating more than 25 years in business! Book Publicist

1 年

Great point: Think of our instinctive reactions as clues and explore them to see if they are helpful or a distraction to us seeing what is really going on

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