The disclosure of intuitions in organisations: A grounded theory

Abstract

Decision makers in organisations are not exclusively rational as once presumed. Research over recent decades has shown that leaders not only use intuition frequently but also consider it important to their role. Studies to date have focused on what intuition "is", its powers and pitfalls, and consequently how one can best make use of this subconscious and elusive cognitive capacity. The same research however, also revealed that intuition has had a bad reputation and that "gut feelings" are often suppressed or masked by the use of analytical terms. However, the suppression of intuition(s) has been shown to result in lost opportunities and errors, sometimes at significant cost. Despite this, intuition use, as a secret or silent practice in organisations, has never been the focus of empirical research in Australia nor internationally. This paper summarises the findings of PhD research that employed Grounded Theory methodology to investigate the social processes of intuition use and disclosure. The emergent grounded theory was developed through the analysis of data collected from semi-structured interviews with 27 men and women currently leading significant Australian organisations. The findings suggest that intuition disclosure is contingent not only on perceptions of legitimacy, but also on the level of "interiority" of the intuiter. The core category of interiority, at intrapersonal level, was defined as an orientation to feelings, particularly emotions and intuitions, and a consequent superior ability to express them. Interiority was found to be more developed in the participating women. The emergent theory proposes a multi-level view of interiority that also explains the social process of intuition disclosure in interpersonal exchanges and organisations. The study concluded that interiority is a capacity available to everyone, can be developed, and is well needed at all levels of social description.