Only knowing how to get to places you never go to gets you nowhere.

"Today the tyrant rules not by club or fist, but, disguised as a market researcher, he shepherds his flocks in the ways of utility and comfort."

Marshall McLuhan

20th century Canadian communications theorist and educator

Not by a long shot.

I founded, grew, and sold what was at the time the consumer electronic industry's largest independent market research and database marketing company in the world.

No one did more research than we did and while much of it was acted upon, much of it was not.

Memo to managers: Don't buy research you don't use.

Decision Making: How Do You Know You Know Enough?

"It is impossible for anyone to begin to learn what he thinks he already knows."

Epictetus
1st Century Greek Philosopher

Critical data is central to effective decision making; without it what you decide may well be wrong. Of course the first decision you must make is concluding you have enough data to make good decisions.

How do you know when you know enough to act wisely?

Instinctive Management: Listening to Yourself

"Ideas pull the trigger, but instinct loads the gun."

Don Marquis
Author

Instinct, "gut hunch"; same thing?

I haven't thought about either in awhile maybe because other phrases and words are in greater use. Things like creativity, innovative and/or entrepreneurial. All good and probably more current than "instinct" and it's old school cousin "gut hunch". However there is a place in management for just "feeling" something is or is not right.

Can you cultivate "instinct"? For what it's worth, Ingrid Bergman thought so:

"You must train your intuition--you must trust the small voice inside you which tell you exactly what to say, what to decide."

Decisions based on data but not without listening to that inner voice.