I created Living ROI as a passion, to share my experiences and support others who want to live more authentic, joyful and fulfilling lives.
The topic of intuition is one of my favorites. It’s a subject we cover in The Enlightened Workplace Project when we talk about decision-making.
Which is better, trusting your intuition, or following rational logic? Well, it’s not black and white. We need both. However, you may be surprised to learn that our intuition is 220,000 times more powerful than head-based logic.
Our instincts emerge from our unconscious mind, from the internal supercomputer in our body, and they reflect a lot more information than our rational mind.
Researchers have discovered that the brain processes far less information than the body. While the conscious mind can only process about 50 bits of information per second, our senses in the human body process 11 million bits of information per second. This means that intuitive body intelligence is 220,000 times more effective than the conscious rational brain.
A good example of someone making an important decision from intuition is Michael Riley, a radar operator in the British Navy during the first Gulf war.
During the second day of the ground offensive against Iraqi troops, Riley trusted his instinct that a blip on his radar screen was an incoming enemy missile rather than an American fighter jet, even though the two signals looked identical. He fired two surface-to-air missiles and single-handedly saved a battleship.
In recalling the incident, Riley said that he couldn’t explain why he felt so fearful about those blips, or why he was so convinced that the one blip was a missile and not a friendly plane. He just reports that his blood ran cold and he believed he had one minute left to live.
It wasn’t until later, after months of investigation, that the British Navy discovered how Riley did it. He had unconsciously picked up a subtle discrepancy in the timing of the radar signal. The first missile popped up on the radar a little farther out to sea than aircraft do. Riley’s gut knew that and warned him, even though his brain hadn’t yet figured it out. His intuition saved him
REMINDER:
Don’t miss The Enlightened Workplace Project Webinar on October 2.
Enlightened decision-makers arrive at decisions using a combination of intuition and rationality.
While paying attention to data and experience are critical parts of making a rational decision, enlightened leaders will increasingly want to flex their intuitive muscles when making decisions.
Enlightened decision-making also includes looking at the broader impact of decisions beyond how an individual will be impacted personally. The goal is to make decisions that have the greatest positive impact for the greatest number of people.
To learn more about The Enlighted Workplace Project, please join us for a free webinar on October 2.
Wishing you all more focus and concentration to do the things in life that matter to you!
Barbara Fagan-Smith
CEO, ROI Communication
Chief Catalyst, Living ROI
P.S. We talk about the topic of focus, and much more, in The Enlightened Workplace Project online course that is launching this Friday! If you’re interested, register using the code: ROISPECIAL for a significant discount. Or, if you’d be willing to participate in a focus group, reach out to me, by replying this this email, and you can join the course for free.
