It’s really important you allow yourself to listen to your intuition in both creative and critical thinking.
I believe you don’t really need to have a “sixth sense” to have intuition. Why? Because to me intuition is your own gut feeling or perception that something is right or wrong.
How many times have you been in a situation where your intuition is telling you that the process or product idea your creative team is working on is flawed and if you’ve followed through your ‘hunch’ has been right? It takes courage to act on that intuition and explore why it is wrong – so if you have, well done!
There are two main parts in using your own intuition about people, events, and processes in your creative team projects:
- the first is to trust your intuition, and
- the second is to explore and act on those feelings.
Without trust in your intuitive process, you may not have the courage or conviction to follow through with your gut feelings and end up with a project you personally feel is not up to your usual standard. Even if you trust in your own intuitive feelings about something, if you do not explore those feelings and take appropriate action, you may as well not have trusted your intuition.
Leaders and managers who can both trust their own instincts, and take appropriate actions on an intuitive perception about something will lead a successful and creative team. It all begins with yourself and your own reactions to your intuition and perceptions.
Trust In Your Intuition
- Trusting in your intuition is not always easy. If you have a low level of self-confidence, you are likely to avoid trusting in your own perceptions and will be likely to take advice from others first. However, even those with high levels of self-confidence can find it difficult to trust something so nebulous as a feeling or even a niggling doubt that something is just not quite right with the project.
- The easiest way to learn to trust your intuition is to take some action on the niggling doubt instead of just leaving it to annoy you. It’s kind of like recovering alcoholics, who are told to “fake it until you make it”. At first, the recovering alcoholic does not believe he can live without another drink ever in his life, but he learns to act as if he does not actually want the drink. Keep acting in a certain way and that becomes your habit and then you do find that belief in yourself.
- The same thing can happen with your intuition. When you get a gut feeling that something is wrong with the project, do not ignore it. Instead, take the actions you would take if you trusted your intuition. If you explore the issue and discover that others felt the same way, or validate your intuition, it is easier to trust your intuition. The next time your intuition starts ringing those alarm bells, you will listen because it was right the last time.
- You are a creative soul and as a leader, your instinct on the project is valid.
Act on Your Intuition
- When you decide to take action on an intuitive feeling, you can either admit to your team it is an intuition, or you can just encourage the team to explore that area further. Sometimes, it is just as easy to say, “I’m not sure about x, can we look at that section again?”
- When you take action on your intuition, you not only validate your gut feelings, but you work to improve the project. Allowing your intuition some input into the project can allow you and your team to explore and improve the project where it needs to be improved. Nothing is perfect, but when your intuition tells you that something is wrong, you can take the appropriate actions to make improvements.
Trust in your own intuition and take the appropriate actions to aid your people or team in completing a project to the highest standard.
