A secret weapon for your organisation"Gut Feel"
Warren Buffet told me once and he said always follow your gut. When you have that gut feeling, you have to go with it, don't go back on it. Le Bron James
Gut feel, otherwise known as intuition, seems to be a majorly underused, underperforming function across the businesses we work with and observe along our journeys.
The CEOs HAVE IT and do use it. Some use it frequently. Others use it fleetingly. Typically, a “Founder CEO” will use it more often. Sadly, when we observe the Leaders across the business, they are rarely using it…
I have received some push back on this, with some wise people suggesting that gut feel is really only “worthy” from those who have the battle-scars in business or have been through a couple of business cycles. Whilst this view has validity, I am still seeing many successful businesses, CEOs, and leaders, making strategic decisions and entries into new markets etc where gut feel has been a key part in their decision making.
In this blog, there are two angles regarding use of gut feel that I’d like you to consider:
How frequently are you leaning into, and using your Gut Feel / Intuition?
As a leader wanting to grow your business, and enhance the capability of your leaders, how much intuition is your team is using?
Why Gut Feel is important?
The Cambridge Dictionary defines, Gut Feel as “a strong belief about someone or something that cannot completely be explained and does not have to be decided by reasoning”.
Company cultures unfortunately still have this residue of FEAR present, where leaders have minimal space and opportunities to get something wrong. Blame, shame, criticism, and job security still sit as this unintended but unspoken undercurrent in many businesses. Too many people in too many businesses continue to gravitate towards uncovering and presenting too many facts and data and other elements that serve the purpose of providing proof or justification, or just to simply “cover their arse”. We need to address this. And this is why there is a huge place for Gut Feel. It is in my experience important for the following reasons:
Speed and agility are critical attributes of a growing business. These are often present in a business’ start-up phase and are retained into their establishment phase. As markets served grow, and departments start to be introduced into the business, there is a SLOWING DOWN of the speed and agility in the business. This is a problem!
I actually contend that gut feel will OFTEN give you an answer (NOT WITHOUT EXPERIENCE)r that is somewhere near the truth. It may not be precise and/or definitive. But if you’re aiming for an 80% accurate response to move something forward, the pay-off to get things moving versus WAITING for the facts and data can often be worth-it.
Gut Feel seems to be a “muscle” that needs to be used otherwise it will atrophy ie. Lose its strength and effectiveness. Conversely, the more you use Gut Feel, the stronger it will become.
Gut Feel is also a great function to tap into with your team. When difficult discussions are being had, or critical decisions are needing to be made, the ability for you to tap into the Gut Feel of your team, AND for them to be able to express it, can provide some great insights, and some areas and potential blind spots to consider and even address. If you can ensure that your team’s Gut Feel is being heard and explored, it is a very powerful way to engage your team.
It challenges some of these cultural undercurrents of fear and criticism and encourages people to be more free in their thinking. Done well, it breeds creativity and a learning culture.
To be clear here, I am NOT suggesting you start to run your business totally on Gut Feel! That would not be wise. In fact, I am going to step up our use of metrics and scoreboards for all clients. I do believe for the reasons listed above, that Gut Feel expressed and considered against facts and data is a great way to operate.
I have also seen it work the other way, where Gut Feel has been used to challenge facts and data. In one recent client case, some metrics in the operations part of the business did not “seem” right to the CEO. Equipment Utilisation was the measure. He thought it was over-stated. When the team lifted the lid on the way the metrics were calculated, they were in fact using the wrong inputs. The metrics were showing that utilisation was high, and the operational team were subsequently comfortable about their performance. The REALITY was however that utilisation was significantly less than it needed to be. The application of the CEO’s Gut Feel here, had enabled a re-cast of that business’ operational plan to build sales and marketing that would in-turn increase utilisation.
As you know, in our Leadership Team Planning Reviews we will often lean into Edward De Bono’s 6 Hats to unpack a business issue. We will almost always use the White Hat (Data and Statistics) AND the Red Hat (Gut Feel). BOTH are critical in the leadership of a business and the collaboration of your team. It’s NOT a one-or-other approach. This is a classic example of the “power of the and” (coined by Jim Collins). The use of Facts and Data AND Gut Feel!!
To reiterate, I am challenging you here to put a spotlight on the collective Gut Feel that exists across your business. Do not fall into the trap to over-analyse every decision through the relentless chasing of reports, facts, and data that won’t add too much value.
Whilst you’re elevating the use of Gut Feel across the business, I still suggest the adoption of metrics that matter, and “right-sized” analysis that provides a double-check on any Gut Feel used. I would also strongly suggest that you incorporate your customer and employee feedback loops to pressure-test gut feel. If we can harness this combined approach, I am confident we can continue to grow our business, our people, and put a gap between us and our competitors!
Grow well
ADAM