As readers of this blog may know, I think most people think their gut is better than it is. I were to guess, I’d say 30% of people have a good gut but 95% of people think they have a good gut.
But that is a big generalization.
In my observation, a gut feeling is better in the negative than in the affirmative. Translation: your gut is better at telling you what NOT to do than at telling you what to do.
If your gut tells you to hire someone … you might not want to heed it. But if your gut tells you to NOT hire someone, it is probably good advice.
Your gut might tell you to do, or not to do, lots of things from hiring to dating to doing a business deal to ordering something at a restaurant.
So I used to be controversial and tell people that I did not trust my gut … but I was wrong. My gut has been right more often than not when it tells me to stay away.
Sorry about this…but what if you have an upset stomach???
Is there an antacid for a gut feeling?
what about pregnant women I hear two heads are better than one
Okay, last one…
you’re in a life boat surrounded by sharks and you get sea sick???
so sorry…
This is an awesome adjustment and I totally agree. Trust your gut when it tells you NOT to do something.
Do you have any examples you could share with the rest of the class?
Martin Sorrell briefly talked about this on Charlie Rose tonight.
After 20 years in HR I agree that the gutometer is one of the most crucial tools in managing people. If the person looks great paper, interviews well and the first few referees all rave about them … but your gut says something is wrong, it pays to get additional referee checks done, or re-interview the person. 9/10 times something will surface that makes you realise that this is the wrong person for the job. The times when I ignored my gutometer bad things happened.
My best example was when a hired a person who presented beautifully and ticked all the right boxes but my gut wasn’t sure about them. I ignored my gut and hired them anyway. A few months later this person turned into a stalker who terrorised a few of my team. After lengthy police involvement and thousands of dollars in compensation and psychological support for my team, I learned the lesson of trusting your gut instincts no matter what.