Going With Your Gut Can Result in Better Decision-Making Than Using Detailed Data Methods

Summary: People who trust their gut instinct with simple decision-making strategies make equally as good, but faster, decisions as those who rely on data methods alone.

Source: City University London

Managers who use their gut instinct together with simple decision-making strategies may make equally good, but faster, decisions as those who use data to reach an outcome, a new study has found.

The report, co-authored by academics at the Business School (formerly Cass), King’s Business School, and the University of Malta, finds that the reliance on data analysis in decision-making might be counterproductive as this reduces decision-making speed without ensuring more accuracy.

The research, based on information from 122 advertising, digital, publishing, and software companies, finds that using data to inform decision making under high uncertainty is often not optimal. This may explain why 12 different publishers initially rejected the opportunity to publish “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’ – because it had no data to inform its potential.

A recent survey revealed that 92 percent of Fortune 1000 companies were reporting increased investment in data initiatives, although it appears this may not always be necessary.

The authors asked managers how they made decisions on their most recent innovation project, including the extent to which they used data, instinct, and other simple heuristics (mental strategies). The findings outlined that among those decision-making methods were:

  1. Majority—choosing what the most people wanted
  2. Tallying—picking the choice with the greatest quantity of positive points
  3. Experience—selecting the option that the most experienced individual on the team wanted.

Managers were asked whether they think they made the right decision and how fast they were in reaching that decision. Results showed that managers relied on their own instinct as much as data, using ‘tallying’ more than any other metric.

This shows a woman surrounded by questionmarks
Results showed that managers relied on their own instinct as much as data, using ‘tallying’ more than any other metric. Image is in the public domain

Dr. Oguz A. Acar, Reader in Marketing at the Business School and co-author of the report, said: “This research shows that data-driven decision-making is not the panacea in all situations and may not result in increased accuracy when facing uncertainty.

“Under extreme uncertainty, managers, particularly those with more experience, should trust the expertise and instincts that have propelled them to such a position. The nous developed over years as a leader can be a more effective than an analytical tool which, in situations of extreme uncertainty, could act as a hindrance rather than a driver of success.”

About this decision making research news

Source: City University London
Contact: Luke Lambert – City University London
Image: The image is in the public domain

Original Research: The findings will appear in Psychology and Marketing

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  1. Always go with your gut feelings. We were given the gift of intuition for a reason. It’s a protective mechanism. Data can , and has often been manipulated.

    I didn’t trust my gut feelings years ago and it resulted in a devastating, life changing physical injury.
    I trusted my gut feelings about these Covid vaccines and decided not to get them. My gut feeling was correct. The data has been heavily manipulated.

  2. No. What this shows, and there’s nothing new about this, is that making bad use of data will lead you to bad decisions.The important point is not to go with your gut, which is moronic, but to learn how to make good use of data.

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