Intuition
Hunch, gut feeling, impression, psychic hit — these are all names for this power called intuition. Intuition is a tool for acquiring knowledge without the process of rational thought. It is the sixth sense; it is what informs you beyond the first five senses of taste, hearing, touch, smell, and sight. I’ve always liked Laura Day’s definition in Practical Intuition: she describes intuition as “knowing without knowing why you know” (Day 1997, 81). Each of us has it, and each of us can develop it to powerful levels.
What is the source of this knowledge? Simply put, the universe. It is everything you have ever experienced or known. In fact, it is everything humankind has experienced or known. Carl Jung (1959), the famous Swiss psychiatrist, conducted extensive studies and concluded that there a “collective unconscious” that is common to every person. This collective unconscious is essentially a library of human experience into which any of us can rap at any time.
This chapter addresses the rise and fall, and imminent rise again, of intuition. You’ll learn how to develop your intuition and make it a powerful driver that fuels your ability as a leader to define yourself; inspire your team; form the optimal, compelling vision for your organization; and assemble a responsive structure to execute that vision.
The First Rise of Intuition
At some point in the millions of years of human evolution, the human brain developed a capacity for intuition. This capacity is in the right side of the brain, whereas our rational, logical capabilities reside in the left side. The right side of the brain is inward focused, fueled from deep within. The left is externally focused,