Intuition at Work: Using Your Gut Feelings to Get Ahead
Jessica Pryce-Jones
Sequoia Books (July 2024)

How and why intuition can help produce better answers and solutions and do so much faster 

Whatever their size and nature may be, all organizations need effective leadership at all levels and in all areas of operation throughout the given enterprise. Jessica Pryce-Jones wrote this book for anyone in need of a “practical, easy-to use approach to build their intuition at work. It’s for you if you’ve ever wondered”:

o What is in tuition all about?
o How do I better use it?
o How do I trust it?
o How do I explain it?

“Or on a more granual level, you might have also asked yourself”:

o What does this person really want?
o How do I know if I can believe them?
o How can I be more  effective right now?
o What is the most likely outcome here?

Even if you have asked only a few of these questions, Intuition at Work is for you.

Long ago, I concluded that there are two types of intuition and both reside in one’s subconscious mind unless and until activated: one is enlightened and the other is not. That is, enlightened intuition possesses the information needed to solve a problem or answer a question (or knows where and how to obtain it) whereas the other type does not. I realized that everyone has the two types but no one person  knows everything needed to make the best decision in every situation. It is also true that few (if any) solutions to the most serious problems are obvious, nor are the answers to the most difficult questions. We need a rigorous but resilient and durable [begin italics] process [end italics] by which to make the most appropriate selection and that, in turn, requires a commitment.

All of the information, insights, and counsel that  Pryce-Jones provides in Intuition at Work can help you to develop your ability to make enlightened decisions, especially in situations where there are (a) an absence of certainty and (b) multiple (plausible) options to consider.

Pryce-Jones  makes brilliant use of several reader-friendly devices, notably those at the end of each chapter: Conclusion, Summary and next steps, (Top takeaways), Read, and Try.  I also call to your attention “Toolkit to tackle 10 top blocks” (Pages 157-180). For each of the ten blocks, Pryce-Jones  focuses on “What you’ll find,” “Why it happens,” “How to deal with it,” and two additional “Tips.”

“To get the most out of this tool kit, and to avoid gold-plating any block like I did, I recommend simply turning to what you are working on and only reading that selection. If you feel you’ve got a mix of a couple, read what you’re drawn to because that is your intuition working for you.”

I conclude with two additional suggestions of my own while you are reading Intuition at Work. First, highlight key passages Also, perhaps in a lined notebook kept near-at- hand, record your comments, questions, action steps (preferably with deadlines), page references, and lessons you have learned as well as your responses to head notes and key points posed within the narrative. Also record your responses to specific or major issues or questions addressed, especially within the Toolkit material.

These two simple tactics — highlighting and documenting — will facilitate, indeed expedite frequent reviews of key material later.