The Power of Intuition: How to Use Your Gut Feelings to Make Better Decisions at Work

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Crown, Jun 1, 2004 - Business & Economics - 352 pages
At times in our careers, we've all been aware of a "gut feeling" guiding our decisions. Too often, we dismiss these feelings as "hunches" and therefore untrustworthy. But renowned researcher Gary Klein reveals that, in fact, 90 percent of the critical decisions we make is based on our intuition. In his new book, THE POWER OF INTUITION, Klein shows that intuition, far from being an innate "sixth sense," is a learnable--and essential--skill.

Based on interviews with senior executives who make important judgments swiftly, as well as firefighters, emergency medical staff, soldiers, and others who often face decisions with immediate life-and-death implications, Klein demonstrates that the expertise to recognize patterns and other cues that enable us--intuitively--to make the right decisions--is a natural extension of experience.

Through a three-tiered process called the "Exceleration Program," Klein provides readers with the tools they need to build the intuitive skills that will help them make tough choices, spot potential problems, manage uncertainty, and size up situations quickly. Klein also shows how to communicate such decisions more effectively, coach others in the art of intuition, and recognize and defend against an overdependence on information technology.

The first book to demystify the role of intuition in decision making, THE POWER OF INTUITION is essential reading for those who wish to develop their intuition skills, wherever they are in the organizational hierarchy.
 

Contents

A Pragmatic Approach to Intuitive Decision Making
3
A Case Study of Intuition
13
Where Do Our Hunches Come From?
20
FIGURES
23
Speeding Up Your Learning Curve
36
1 The Three Basic Elements of Intuition
38
Using Analysis to Support Our Intuitions
64
1 FoveaPeriphery Contrast
65
1 Covering Fire
208
WAYS TO SAFEGUARD IT 13 Executive Intent How to Communicate Your Intuitions
209
3 Wielding STICC
214
Coaching Others to Develop Strong Intuitions ix
220
1 Keeping Your CoPilot in the Dark
222
1 A Model of Master Coaching
230
Overcoming the Problems with Metrics
239
1 Banking on Metrics
240

3 The Zone of Indifference
78
WAYS TO APPLY IT 6 How to Make Tough Choices
89
1 The ProblemDetection Process
102
2 Selling the Company
108
2 The Alarmist
110
How to Spot Problems Before They Get Out of Hand
111
Special Engineering Review
114
How to Manage Uncertainty
119
How to Size Up Situations
134
1 The Invisible Adversary
139
Getting CreativeHow to Go Beyond Brainstorming
151
1 Creating a Microclimate
159
2 The Birth of the 401k
166
How to Improvise and Adapt Plans
173
1 The Japanese Robots
182
A Case Study
189
5 Schwarzkopf Presses the Attack
250
13
257
Smart Technology Can Make Us Stupid
260
1 The Displays That Were Too Smooth
264
20
268
4 Computer Modeling or Computer Meddling?
280
Ten Tips for Intuitive Decision Making
282
1 The Last Person Who Needed to Improve
289
Notes
298
DECISION MAKING EXERCISES
306
36
309
1
320
64
327
134 151 173 189 205 220
328
Banking on Your Intuition
329
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About the author (2004)

GARY KLEIN, Ph.D., Chairman and Chief Scientist of Klein Associates, is the author of Sources of Power, named by Business & Strategy as one of the best books of the new millenium. He is renowned for his pioneering work with the U.S. Marines, firefighters, and business organizations in determining the role intuition plays in individual performance. He lives in Yellow Springs, Ohio.

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