Do you follow your gut as a founder?
Cristina Imre
17 replies
I wonder how much you rely on your gut feeling.
...
Emotional self-awareness is essential for good decision-making, and neuroscience backs this up.
Learning how to use your gut feeling is a brilliant skill of the few who know.
It works in all circumstances: raising money, finding the right investors, partnering with someone, negotiating an acquisition, hiring an employee...
If you are unaware of what causes excitement or fear youโre condemned to be ruled by innate biases that were indispensable to your ancestors but leading to irrational decision-making today.
For example, your amygdala activates the same way when seeing a snake or seeing a face of another race. (Even more so if you were not raised in a mixed environment.)
Such confusion can lead to plenty of bad decisions.
Replies
Ivan Ralic@ralic
Collabwriting
Nah, I really like to have something I can back my intuition back with. When you are an Entrepreneur you either win or learn, and to learn you really need something concrete to back it up.
Of course that I go with my intuition when in doubt and I do not have enough time or resources. But in general, one of the key skills Entrepreneur should acquire is getting as much information as soon as possible to make a good decision ๐
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@ralic As executives who follow the norms, we were taught to be methodical, frame problems, collect information, weigh all options, consider alternatives and decide. The last thing on your mind was your gut feeling. But there is wisdom in intuition if you know how to read it well. I recommend the following books: ๐๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ธ by Malcolm Gladwell; ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฃ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ป๐๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป and ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ข๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ป'๐ by Gary Klein.
Collabwriting
@cristinaimre thank you for your recommendations ๐
I've added one interview (podcast) with Malcolm and one with Gary to my listening list, and I'll go from there ๐
Localboss
It comes to define "gut". If it's based on previous experience, knowledge of the market, deep understanding of the user needs.... yeah, follow it!
If it's just your biased opinionated brain looking for some attention and "I'm right" moment... let it to go. As a business founder my gut will be wrong more times than right, so I measure, test and validate as much as possible.
@xavier_colomes Thanks for you insights!
Localboss
@cristinaimre My pleasure!
Using your gut is important to get a sense of if something is wrong. If you're overstressed, busy but not productive, things just aren't working out... then something is wrong.
But to make decisions as a founder, I think following just your gut will get you in trouble.
Too often we think we have a brilliant idea, and we execute it and it flops.
My experience is that it's better to try and validate a gut feeling and then act on it, rather than just act on it alone. But that's not also feasible all the time.
@luke_mondora The answers I received makes it obvious that this topic needs more attention because it's a lot of confusion about what the intuitive gut feeling really is. Thanks for making this obvious to me.
I follow my gut and same time back it up with fact
Intuition has a purpose, but if you have the time and resources you should be relying on data to bolster any decision with tangible impact. I agree with you that it is a practiced skill, but if data points in the opposite direction, I personally think you should follow the data
@cristinaimreI completely agree, once you have a high degree of confidence that your inner mental model is effective within your given context, it becomes easier to "trust your gut"
@dylan_merideth The data starts backing up intuition but there is a confusion about what masses understand by it. It's a subtle learning curve to know the feelings that are guiding well or those that emerge from reactionary instincts that result in bad decisions.
It ultimately boils down to my gut, but I would do as much research as I can.
My company helps startups talk to prospective customers online and nurture conversations on different things. I've learnt in all this that listening constantly to my target audience explain their problems/frustrations paints a good picture in my head about what the ecosystem of my solution should optimally be.
This bedrock, alongside behavioural data, gives my gut a firmer foundation to evaluate biases against.
That said, our brains are able to pick up patterns our subconscious minds do not. If I feel uneasy about a decision, I'll err on the side of ... not. Now there's a difference between uneasy and a bit scared. I will 100% move forward if it's just a bit scary.
Uneasiness, however, is a different story. Experience have taught me not to ignore my gut with this one.
@centamadi Great share! I believe we all need to master how we use our gut, and once we get the formula magic happens. :)