This woman could change the world of business
(Reading time approx 3 minutes - 737 words)
She broke through the glass ceiling over 20 years ago and continues to achieve incredible success. Yet her advice to business is universally ignored. If only it was followed, it would completely change the world of business. Previously VP of Microsoft Global Strategy, then as CEO of Frontier Communications she increased turnover from $3 Billion to over $10 Billion.
This woman is Maggie Wilderotter, Chair of DocuSign (September 2023), currently CEO of Grand Reserve Inn, and has served on international boards such as Costco & Hewlett Packard. Her advice could not have been clearer:
“Intuition is a business tool, use it!”
Every organisation, at every level, is daily facing increasing challenges with high incidence of mental illness and the need to engage productively with AI. This situation, paradoxically, provides “a gem in the offing” because:
Without exception,
Beneath every problem lies a hidden opportunity of immense value which, if discovered, will lead to benefits and developments that dwarf the impact of the initial issue.
The more difficult the problems, the greater the opportunities. Grasping these opportunities requires an ability to recognise and acknowledge there’s a problem, apply a process to discover new perspectives which can then in turn be scrutinised, validated, and accepted. There’s a natural, functional process to achieve this:
Negative Emotion highlights when there is a problem (although it is grossly misunderstood)
Intuition, when acknowledged and applied, offers alternative ideas, solutions and perspectives
Logic is then used to explore, scrutinise, and validate or otherwise what intuition offers
This is true at a personal level, increasing mental resilience, at a team level identifying and eliminating negative micro-cultures, and at an organisational level to increase productivity, innovation and profitability. Yet intuition is rarely acknowledged or explored and almost never consciously applied. Such is the lack of understanding of this natural skill set we all have, that can be developed so very quickly.
The solution!
The solution actually lies in collaborative exploration by “Early Adopter” employees of the “Feminine Mind”. In other words, the “response ability” to do so lies primarily with women but also with men who acknowledge their feminine aspect of “self”. This Is not to say women are more intuitive than men – in my experience it’s more a willingness to listen openly to the subtlety that is intuition, in all its various guises.
Could intuition really be of practical value?
It did in 1955, in 1961, also in 2011 and has done for years since then. That is according to quotes by Einstein, Carl Jung, Steve Jobs, not to mention Richard Branson, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos and even Lord Sugar. Every one of those successful men value intuition highly. Its potential should therefore be taken seriously!
Maybe it will take a woman, and those prepared to heed her advice, to help the business world see sense?
The reality
In today’s business environment logic is given precedence despite facts and knowledge rapidly going out of date and that no-one is ever in possession of all the facts; hence the ever present “Law of Unintended Consequences”. Despite endorsement by all those astonishingly successful business leaders mentioned above, recent survey of HR Professionals found none believed Intuition was of practical value and less than 0.2% were open to trials to explore the idea. Astonishing!
The opportunity loss of such narrow-mindedness is unfathomable!
Competitive edge comes from exploring and discovering what others do not. New ideas arise intuitively and are then developed through logical application. Developing one’s intuition has profound positive impact for individuals, groups, and organisational culture. This skill set is innate and remarkably quick and easy to re-discover. Thereafter, the speed in achieving constructive unexpected outcomes is astonishing.
I respectfully suggest the ideal approach is to take a little time to understand this subject while being highly skeptical, but not dismissive. You will be surprised.
THE NEXT STEP
Visit www.senseable.co.uk where you will find:
Cases illustrating how intuition contributed to achieving significant benefits in productivity, innovation, and mental wellbeing
Link to Teams community discussions on “Intuition in Business”
These seven articles that explain the rationale, science, principles, structure, and processes in developing Intuition in changing organizational culture:
1. Why a 17th century idea limits business potential
2. The Discovery Process - an introduction
3. Why a different approach is needed
4. Maximising ROI - The structure
5. How micro-cultures can change an entire company
6. Nature’s clues to successful change
7. Developing courage, authenticity, and creativity
Check it out now www.senseable.co.uk