'Test Your Intuition' -The Two Types of People

The easiest way to test how much the person trust a gut feeling is just to ask her/him some questions about intuition: 'When you have to make crucial decisions in your business, how much you trust your intuition?' 'When and how did you get such new ideas?' 'How do you take a balance of intuition and logic?' etc.

Recently, I often ask these questions to new people I have met for the first time in Japan. Amazingly, 8 to 9 Japanese do not trust their intuition. They listen to me, but after all they trust logical and analytical thinking, statistics, and numerical data. 1 to 2 people out of ten show their strong interest in my stories. I noticed the fact that most people who refused to listen to the story of intuition usually have routine works. Such people are less creative than people who are willing to learn about intuition.

There are two types of people in the world. People like Gary Klein (left photo) pursue the possibility of intuitive decision making and expertise (although he accepts the fact that intuition judgments do not always lead to better consequences). The other group like Daniel Kahneman (right photo) deny intuition. They point out that human have strong biases and heuristics that bring about wrong judgments. I don't think people who deny intuition are less creative than people who trust intuition. As a matter of fact, Kahneman contributed to behavioral economics and won the Novel Prize in Economics. He is a very creative person!

Still one thing is sure: our mental conditions greatly affect intuition and creativity. The person who is less confident and have deep misgivings will not be successful when they try something new. Of course, overconfidence will also often bring disastrous results. However, if you distrust your intuition, you will lose your fortune in your mind.