How Well are You Using Your Instincts in Business?

Many entrepreneurs have difficulty using their instinct or their gut
reaction to guide them in business and on their path to success. It
stems from our childhood when we were told to think before we do, to
study the problem first, to weigh the options, and to formulate a plan
before taking action. All of these involve a thinking process, and in
business, sometimes instincts are better than analytics.


When we were young, we were asked to perform a task or complete a
project. It was a problem with a known answer and our instructors knew
the solution. It had been done before. We were being asked to learn what
our teachers knew by doing it ourselves. However, for many
entrepreneurs, finding a definitive answer isn’t possible. Entrepreneurs
must perform in an ambiguous, uncertain, and dynamic marketplace. The
answers aren’t always known by someone else, who can guide the
entrepreneur. Further complicating matters, there may be more than one
viable solution to the problem, and weighing the merits of each may not
be obvious.


This is where instincts and gut reaction come in handy. It takes time
for a new entrepreneur to reach this conclusion. Before they gain
enough experience to realize that the thinking and analytical process
may not lead the way to every answer. Being able to understand what your
instincts are saying and knowing when to listen to them over your brain
just goes against what we were taught in school.


We’ve all heard it sometime in our lives, “listen to your heart”, but
how do you do that? Let’s look at some ways out instincts are leading
the way.


Envy is considered to be one of the deadly sins, but is it? If you
are jealous of someone, then that’s your instinct telling you that is
what you want and it’s a goal that’s really important to you.

The amount you smile or frown tells you a lot about a situation. If
think about your day at work, do you smile a lot? If you are happy with
what you do, you will be smiling. If you are frowning all the time then
you should consider finding a new job. What’s your smile to frown ratio?


We are all faced with choices in life, in order to do one thing, we
can’t do another. Many people have difficulty choosing. Think about what
you do first because that is your gut making the difficult decision for
you. Here’s a simple example. People wanting to lose weight have a
choice between many diets and programs. Should they try the lo-carb,
protein, raw foods, or vegetarian diet? Imagine going to dinner at an
upscale restaurant, the waiter brings your dinner, which is the food you
eat first from your plate? This is a good indication of which diet will
be viable for you because the key to weigh loss is consistency and
dedication. Given a list of things you need to accomplish today, which
do you do first?


Impatience and short temperament are indications that the situation
isn’t right for you. I see this often when workers are assigned to tasks
and doing them grudgingly. These tasks will not be done well, but be
done just well enough to check off that they are done. The workers
become short tempered with their colleagues. What tasks do you dread?
When someone speaks to you while doing the task, are you irritable? You
should consider hiring or outsourcing these tasks, and spend your time
doing the things you do well.


When you have lunch with someone and talk about your experiences, do
you harp on the negative aspects or the positive? If someone asks about
your job, and you think about all the great things you’ve learned then
it is a worthwhile experience. If all you can do is dwell on the
negative aspects then you aren’t doing yourself any good by enduring
misery.


We have been trained in school to “think” and told we shouldn’t let
out emotions rule us. But this doesn’t mean we should ignore the signs
from our reactions and emotions. You meet a potential business partner
and they have a great written proposal, but you are repulsed by their
staff.


Don’t ignore your reaction. It’s your instincts telling you there is
something wrong with the situation, and the partnership is likely to end
in an ugly divorce. Even though we may not be in any actual danger, we
should still listen to our fight or flight reactions. Wanting to run out
of the conference room is just as valid as wanting to run away from the
bear.


One observation I’ve made about the people like Bill Gates and Warren
Buffet is when they started out, they didn’t know where they’d end up.
There wasn’t a grand master plan on day one. It was their ability to
make good decisions along the way that got them to where they are today.
If you want to grow your career or your business, stop over thinking
and trust your instincts.