Understanding instinct in business decision-making

Data can only paint part of the picture. Joanne Chan at Turner Duckworth explores the enormous importance of instinct and intuition in business

 

As business leaders, we’re surrounded by data. From analytics to algorithms, trends analysis to market forecasting, it’s everywhere. It’s a vital tool in how we make our decisions, but the smartest business leaders also know that the best decisions are often an amalgamation of art and science. The world’s leading brands were formed not by data but by instinct. 

 

Think of Apple, a brand that’s less about tech specs and more about the promise of creativity, innovation and individual empowerment. Even its logo is a triumph of instinct over data: Rob Janoff’s original design, half a century ago, came from an intuitive decision to make the fruit the hero and drop the wordmark. Data would never have led to that idea.

 

‘Just Do It’ helped Nike’s sales skyrocket from $877 million in 1988 to more than $9 billion by the end of the 1990s. It isn’t just about shoes; it taps into a universal desire to be better, stronger, and more resilient. Nike’s success isn’t down to data-driven insight but to the emotional resonance of its message.

 

Apparel brand Patagonia is a master at this. The brand instinctively connects with its target consumer’s emotional link to nature with an identity built on sustainability, environmental activism and ethical practices. This trickles down to the campaign level, where messaging such as ‘Don’t Buy This Jacket’ appeals to people’s shared values and feelings of responsibility to protect the planet.

 

To emulate their success and avoid our brands joining the sea of data-informed, aesthetically pleasing but indistinguishable sameness that clutters shelves and screens around us, we know we cannot rely on data alone. We’ll need to lean into instinct and emotion as well. 

 

But how can we explain this to the CFOs, the sceptical Board members, and those who understandably need to see tangible evidence before making seven-figure investments?

 

As brand consultants to many of the world’s leading companies, we see business leaders wrestle with this dilemma all too frequently. We offer our clients two pieces of advice: firstly, develop a more nuanced understanding of what instinct is; secondly, understand the subtle interplay of instinct and data that informs the most successful business decisions.

 

What is instinct, really?

Roger Federer slicing an unplayable backhand into the far corner of the court. Taylor Swift holding a note, and with it a vast stadium of people captivated in that moment. A courtroom lawyer, knowing how to pause and glance, how to precisely measure that split second when he swings the jury his way.

 

These are all geniuses operating on pure instinct. They know the right decision without thinking about it, without processing reams of data. Right?

 

Wrong. Instinct is not an impulsive or fleeting sense. Instinct is the accumulation of experience. It’s a judgement formed by decades of work, experimentation, successes and failures – those are what provide the mass of data buried in our neural pathways that enable us to make instinctive decisions.

 

It’s what we relied on two decades ago when asked to create the Amazon logo. Our brief was written on a single sheet of paper. There were no images to inspire the designers, no background to define the competitive landscape, no data to explain customer segmentation and, refreshingly, no Venn diagram of overlapping circles. 

 

To help Jeff Bezos envision his dream of selling everything under the sun (not just books), he had to see into the future when the Amazon smile would be known everywhere, recognizable on delivery trucks and boxes worldwide. Doing this meant pulling the now ubiquitous smile away from the wordmark, putting it on the end of shipping boxes, and inviting Amazon to ‘imagine this.’

 

When asked by his marketing team if they should research the logo, he said, “Anyone who doesn’t like this logo, doesn’t like puppies.”

 

For business leaders looking to make the case for instinctive decisions in the boardroom, being able to articulate instinct in this way is a vital tool.

 

The dance of instinct and data 

The other is seeing how data and instinct work together. Data plays an essential role in informing the left-brain, rational component of business decision-making. For example, it offers a clear view of customer behaviours, preferences, and trends at the start of the process. 

 

Yet, data can only paint part of the picture, answering “what” and “how,” but often failing to address the fundamental question of “why.” Why should a customer care about our brand? Why does the brand exist beyond simply turning a profit? And why should people develop a genuine emotional connection to it? 

 

Another way to look at it is that data tends to tell you about the past and present based on existing behaviours and patterns. Great business leadership is about looking into the future—imagining what the consumer doesn’t yet know they want, creating something that feels fresh, surprising, and emotionally engaging. This requires creative vision born from imagination. 

 

The future CEO

So, as well as being able to define instinct more clearly, it helps to be able to describe how data and instinct should work together in business decision-making. Both are necessary for the best decisions, and it’s essential to understand the specific role each plays.

 

At the very pinnacle of business leadership, the job becomes about making the right calls and then being able to bring stakeholders along with you. The ability to successfully make the case for the right investments is what will define the superstar CEOs of tomorrow. A key part of this is being able to articulate a more nuanced understanding of the importance of instinct.

 

While strategy, logic, research, data, and analytics can drive good decisions, it’s often instinctive, intuitive ideas that make them great.  

 

---

 

Joanne Chan is CEO at design agency Turner Duckworth

 

Main image courtesy of iStockPhoto.com and FangXiaNuo