Why you (entrepreneurs) should trust your gut. Always.

http://www.foundread.com/view/why-you-should-trust

by transburgh • 19 years ago

18 12 19 years ago

If you do this, you have to be very aware of when your gut will let you down, namely when "all available information" does not constitute much information at all. It's very easy for your gut to give you a false sense of expertise when you really don't know much about the topic at all. If this is your situation, you really need to do more research to "prime" your gut into reacting based on a more complete set of information.

Blink described this as the "Warren G. Harding" paradox, where many people voted for him because he seemed tall, confident, and commanding, while he really was an idiot. A more modern version might be George W. Bush: half of America voted for him because their gut instinct said he was a friendly, down-to-earth guy who cared about the common man, but that's only because his PR people carefully crafted his public persona to give off that impression.

aswanson• 19 years ago

I actually know a guy who voted for him because he looked like 'He had a lot of composure.'

yters• 19 years ago

Traditionally, man has two kinds of intellectual abilities: contemplative and practical. The only time the purely practical is best is when you aren't supposed to think critically.

motoko• 19 years ago

My gut says that I shouldn't always trust it.

awt• 19 years ago

Have you ever ignored your gut and not regretted it?

nostrademons2• 19 years ago

Sure. My gut told me to buy Motorola stock about a year ago. But I decided I'd wait until after I'd bought a new cell phone and use the research from it as a gut check to see whether they were still worth investing in. After that I changed my mind, about both the phones and the stock.

The stock has since fallen nearly 30%.

geofharries• 19 years ago

Trusting "your" gut is fine and all, but which road do you take when there's multiple people, with differing opinions, involved in the final decision? This is when it's key to lean on people you are able to trust, communicate with and most importantly, forgive, if the situation doesn't work out.

mdakin• 19 years ago

"The human mind works at low efficiency. Twenty percent is the figure usually given. When, momentarily, there is a flash of greater power it is termed a hunch, or insight, or intuition." -Isaac Asimov

rms• 19 years ago

Note that this wasn't Asimov speaking as Asimov, it was a character in Foundation and Empire. http://easygold.cn/library/admin/upload/kehuan/asimov/fdep/f...

davidw• 19 years ago

Could this be one of those cases where bias comes into play? You remember when trusting your gut worked, but tend to shrug off or forget when it didn't? Humans tend to make errors like that...

juwo• 19 years ago

here's why it is dead wrong - have you heard of the word 'prejudice'?

comatose_kid• 19 years ago

What is it with these fuzzy entrepreneurial articles, and how do they get 15 votes? An article's appearance on foundread.com must kill off the 'critical thinking 101' brain cells or something...

1) The author's examples aren't terribly convincing, especially when they're trying to support an argument followed by the ever-definitive 'Always.'

2) In 3 out of 3 examples, his gut totally rocked. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen a more statistically significant sample. I wonder if it helped him out as effectively in multiple choice exams.

2) The author is an 'Internet Marketing Manager'. That's a respectable job, I'm sure, but his advice would probably carry more authority if his gut started a really successful company.

Why you (entrepreneurs) should trust your gut. Always.

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