Should You Trust Your Instincts?

The new movie “Sully” offers a gripping account not only of the “miracle on the Hudson,” but also of the subsequent inquiry into the incident by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). For those who don’t remember, a U.S. Airways flight in 2009 lost both engines shortly after take-off from New York’s LaGuardia Airport. Pilot “Sully” Sullenberger successfully crash landed on the Hudson River and all 155 people were safely evacuated. The movie focuses more on the inquiry, specifically the question of intuition versus data. That’s an important question for leaders as well as for pilots. Some might say that this is just a matter of personality and style – some leaders are intuitive and some are analytical. It’s not that one is better than the other – they are just two different approaches. And while I agree with this to some extent, I think that the best leadership is both intuitive AND analytical. In some situations, a leader doesn’t have the time to wait for analysis. A decision needs to be made and data isn’t available, so the leader must rely on intuition. Certainly, the past experiences and the “gut feel” that a leader has shouldn’t be ignored. That was the case with Sully and flight 2009. But this doesn’t mean that data should be ignored. The right information can help leaders recognize when their instincts are mistaken or shape the details of their decisions. In Great by Choice, Jim Collins refutes a popular leadership myth that great leaders and great organizations make decisions quickly. The truth is that they don’t automatically rush to make decisions. Instead, they use experiments and data-gathering to shape their thinking whenever possible, so that they can make wise choices when the time is right. They don’t fall victim to “paralysis by analysis,” nor are they prone to “shooting from the hip.” So should you trust your instincts? It’s easy to receive my blogs by email. Just sign-up on Feedburner by clicking here.]]>