Intuition Is Much More Than Making Good Decisions

by Bruce Kasanoff

90% of the books and experts that mention intuition in a business context are talking about decision making. This has led many of us to fundamentally misunderstand intuition's true value and its full potential.

For over a year, I have sat with Hrund Gunnsteinsdottir's book, InnSæi: Heal, Revive and Reset with the Icelandic Art of Intuition. The first time I read it, I was in a "I'm so busy, is there anything new here" mindset. I found the book interesting, but quickly got distracted. That wasn't due to any flaw in the book; it was due to my presence in a typical Western mindset that we mistake for efficiency but that actually represents confusion.

I recently returned to InnSæi, and realized the error of my ways. "What's new here" is the wrong question. The right question is, "What timeless truths does this book contain?"

The answer is: many.

This is more a book about feeling than thinking. It is not about decision-making; it is about knowing deep truths that are all too easy to ignore. In her first two sentences, Hrund writes, "This book is a love letter, an ode to the magnificent, complex, largely incomprehensible but fascinating world that exists within us all, our InnSæi, meaning the sea within us. It explores how we can immerse ourselves beautifully in this inner world, in order to feel regenerated and reconnect with the world around us."

She goes on to explain that "InnSæi, the Icelandic word for intuition, poetically captures the nature of the world within us. It has three meanings: the sea within; to see within; and to see from the inside out." (Hrund does a beautiful job of explaining each of these.)

Not a word about making better decisions. Her focus is on a much deeper level, understanding how we fit into the world around us, not just the economy or the decision-making process within our companies.

I'd like to share how I'm going to use the book, now that I've had a year to sit with it...

  1. I will set aside my digital copy and order a hardcover from my local bookstore.

  2. When the book arrives, it will serve as my digital detox tool; at times, I will carry it instead of my phone.

  3. I won't be reading it (again) in a front-to-back manner. Instead, I'll open it randomly and read a few pages... then wait to feel what comes up for me.

  4. My intention is to personalize my copy to the greatest extent possible: writing and drawing in it as thoughts and feelings arise.

The illusion that we are rational creatures leading separate lives has caused humanity to embrace some highly questionable behaviors. Everything I am using to communicate with you today was created by someone else, from language to a keyboard and my computer and your device and the systems that took my words, converted them to bits, sent them around the world, converted them back to words, and pinged you that you have a new message.

From my vantage point, InnSæi offers a way to move beyond words and gain a much deeper understanding of the reality we inhabit. The world isn't just the tools and processes I described in that last paragraph; it is everything and everyone you have ever imagined. That reality is too big and too complex to understand with mere logic. You also need to employ intooition, in the expanded sense of that word.