INTUITION

“A spellbinding evening with out-of- the-box thinking”
– Cape Town’s latest Think &Talk on INTUITION

One Friday afternoon in October when most people were heading home to start
their weekend, both regular and new attendees did the opposite, they came to
Workshop 17 at the V&A Waterfront to think and talk about Intuition.

For those familiar with the Memetor concept of Think & Talks, it is a welcome
couple of hours of interactive fun and reflection around different and relevant
themes.

For those new to our seminars, it is often a surprising eye opener, both in terms
of the format and its valuable use in their professional and private life. “I never
expected it to be like this” one of our new participants said, finding our seminar
“spellbinding” with its “out-of- the-box thinking.”

What is intuition? Where does intuition come from?

Whereas so much in a business environment seem  to be based on rational decision making and logical problem solving, intuition often described as a hunch, a gut feeling or instinct, may sometimes – possibly to our detriment – be overlooked, but can be a decisive factor in creating successful outcomes.

Intuition has been recognised throughout the ages as a valuable part of our human existence. Plato called it a superior faculty, Spinoza believed it to be the highest form of human knowledge and Descartes referred to it as pre-existing knowledge.

Albert Einstein said: “I believe in intuitions and inspirations. I sometimes FEEL
that I am right, I do not KNOW that I am…”

Could it be that it has been a bit lost in our modern celebration of reason and
logic? When do we act on that intuitive feeling, and when do we not?
In which situations do we trust our intuition, and when do we not?

We were lucky to have ethics expert Fazela Mahomed and seasoned journalist
and senior correspondent Crystal Orderson to share their thoughts on the topic.

Fazela having worked in the public sector for more than two decades, told us the
importance of acknowledging intuition in her line of work ensuring that
parliamentarians had their ‘house in order’. Fazela said that trusting that gut
feeling often is essential when investigating unethical behaviour.

Crystal working as an international senior correspondent covering news stories
often in dangerous situations, trusting your intuition often becomes a question of
life and death.

Both Fazela and Crystal pointed out that that intuition is a muscle that needs to
be exercised and trained.

Our participants’ intuitive muscle certainly had the opportunity to be flexed
throughout the couple of hours of reflection and fun exercises.
“Why can’t you do this more often?” said one of our regulars as she walked out
the door starting her weekend on an intuitive footing.

The Memetor team is certainly looking forward to the next one!