In an almost clandestine way, intuition accompanies us in our daily performance. For example, and within our scope of responsibility and autonomy, we make decisions often driven by impulses that reason cannot fully explain; we trust or mistrust people without knowing why. It is not always about genuine intuition but, despite the prevailing rationality, we sometimes get carried away by inner voices that break through. Since all that glitters is not intuition, reason must always intervene in a tandem.
People who are more familiar with intuitive phenomena distinguish authentic intuition well and facilitate its appearance; but we cannot be precise in defining this faculty, nor do we know much about the conscious functioning of the brain. Let us remember, of course, that intuition is plural or multidimensional in its deployment, and perhaps it is not properly necessary to insist, for example and without qualifying it, that the Japanese are more intuitive than the Europeans, or that women are more intuitive than the European men. mens. It may be like this in general, but on the one hand each individual is unique, and on the other it seems useful to deploy the complex intuitive phenomenology: endogenous and exogenous sources from which it feeds, cognitive and emotional forms in which it manifests, technical and personal situations to which contributes…
We admit that women have more empathy than men and that they surpass us in emotional intuition, but it seems more constructive to think that we can all nurture our fullness as human beings, and specifically we can develop our intuitive faculties. In principle, we could consider intuition as access to valuable and timely knowledge, the origin of which we ignore; as a kind of intimate conviction of something, although we cannot explain it rationally. Scientific advancement has often made use of intuition.
Indeed, it is daring to define this faculty because, in doing so, we probably limit it; but if we do not define it, each one can interpret it in a different way. To begin with, intuition can be seen as a gift, as a mental faculty, as a character trait… Without a doubt, it constitutes a reinforcement of our knowledge and intelligence, and indeed almost all of us recognize manifestations such as the following: a reading of feelings or thoughts of our interlocutor; a deep and inexplicable certainty about something that matters to us; a sudden fix for a persistent problem; a timely, unexpected and valuable idea; a solid commitment to a certain direction in which to apply our effort; a peculiar feeling of trust (or mistrust) towards a person, an issue, a project or information;a feeling, mental or visceral, of warning about risks or dangers; an interesting abstraction or connection, emerged suddenly from the study of a documentation.
Certainly, the faculty that occupies us constitutes a plus for our perspicacity, creativity, empathy, perspective, prudence, perception of realities, good judgment… So, in the company, it assists us in consulting information, communication, solution of problems, decision-making, innovation, sanctioning of opportunities… But how to recognize genuine intuition? Undoubtedly, it must be distinguished from prejudices, fears, desires, conjectures, occurrences, fixations, preferences, etc., and in any case submit the intuitive messages to the acquiescence or consent of analytical reason.
In the company there are elements that, such as fear or the need to explain our decisions, largely inhibit the flow of intuition; But the changes brought about by the knowledge economy and innovation seem to catalyze the use of this power. In other words, just as emotions and emotional intelligence came to the company in the 90s, it seems now the turn of genuine intuition, for the benefit of productivity and competitiveness: we cannot miss any faculty. We have a lot of unconsciously stored knowledge in our brain, which manifests itself through intuition without ruling out other sources of its drinking (remember Sheldrake's theory of extended mind).
Intuitive responses can emerge in real time, but also after an incubation period when something is of special concern to us. Kekulé unexpectedly came up with the solution he was looking for, as did Jenner, Fleming, Loewi, Roentgen, Dyson, and other scientists in their respective fields. Unexpectedly or by chance, company men like Kroc, Ibuka, Mestral, Goodyear also came up with valuable solutions… Today all of us, managers or expert workers, can help ourselves with intuition to generate valuable news in companies.
Let's learn to recognize and cultivate authentic intuition by being ourselves more authentic and focusing our attention on tasks. In professional performance, intuition seems proportional to our psychic energy and insight into problems and challenges; to our desire to learn and create; to the leading role in carrying out tasks. To explain the latter, I would add that a professional who leads himself behind established goals is probably more intuitive than one who follows a boss-leader who thinks for him.
And to finish these lines, I would like to place the reader in what we have been calling talent: that innate disposition to do something especially well. In the unconscious inherited and acquired from the talented, be they managers or workers, there is a treasured knowledge that emerges through intuitive phenomenology. The talented flows where the rest of us get stuck; seems to have been born to do that. More than choosing his profession, it seems that it has chosen him. But intuition is not, and neither is cognitive or emotional intelligence, exclusive to select groups: we can all cultivate and develop our faculties as human beings, for the benefit of the desired effectiveness in our task and also of professional satisfaction.
