Intuition is the process of knowing something without engaging your mind through a rational process. The term also refers to an impression that something could be. A person under the influence of intuition has a vague belief in which he places his or her confidence. A manager who is under the influence of intuition will have a cognitive ability that is well organized but not properly understood. Such a cognitive ability is purposed at developing effectiveness in a workplace.
Research has shown that when managers are making decisions they do not act as passive makers of choice but rather as active sense makers relying on perception, imaginative reasoning, and action to solve problems. The knowledge required to solve a particular problem is a product of the manager’s way of thinking and the environment surrounding him. Therefore, a manager’s intuition is important in solving dynamic problem situations. (Rowan, 1986 pp12-13)
To create an executive support system fitting this understanding, it is important to design an ecological model comprising of methodologies that can focus on the analysis of the relationship between a manager’s mind and the environment. This can also be improved by combining the ability of computers to analyze and the intuition the managers have.
All managers tend to have feelings of intuition but they discount them and when they give in to these feelings, it takes a lot of guts to listen to them. The more the manager follows his intuition to propose an idea to a prospective client the stronger the influence of intuition gets into him. Therefore, the more the manager trusts his intuition, the more he gets nudges caused by intuition. For this reason, managers trying to make decisions should have all the facts and a clear mind. However, sometimes intuitions are important keys while dealing with clients as a manager especially during public speaking and when they want to overhaul their business potential.
While doing this the manager requires a lot of sensitivity and not much hard data. A manager can also have strong intuition feelings when they are faced with a difficult decision in hiring employees. It is therefore clear that for most managers to perform optimally they must apply a lot of intuition. This can be done by using data that already exists or by evaluating values to decide if something is right or wrong to perform. (Alder, 1995 pp33-36)
References
Alder H. (1995): Manager Mit Intuition: Campus Verlag, pp. 33-36.
Rowan R. (1986): the intuitive manager: Little Brown, pp. 12-13.