When to trust your gut

Do you know that feeling?

That feeling when something is… off.

You can’t quite put your finger on it - yet. But you know that trucking along will become a problem.

What do you do?

In the era where “data is the new oil” we’re all potty-trained to ignore those feelings. To act on facts. To be a rational decision-making machine that doesn’t have the word “emotion” in its vocabulary.

Data-driven decision making.

Sure.

But you know as well as I do that while this sounds “logical” in a management book written by someone who spends their time reading management books, it’s not how the real world works.

When your gut says something is off, it probably is.

Even if you don’t have the data to prove it yet.

Don’t ignore it - explore it.

Poke around. Ask some questions. And above all, don’t be afraid to act upon it while you look for the data to back it up.

Because all you’re doing is a series of experiments.

You know, a project is uncertain by definition. So you’re always making up new assumptions, testing them, and learning from those experiments.

Once you validate something, you execute it at scale.

Sounds like a high school science experiment, right? Think about it for a second, and look at a project you’re currently part of.

Some stuff you already know, so you’re executing it.

As you progress, things that were a mystery last week become obvious. So you execute more. Uncertainty goes down. Risk goes down. Progress goes up.

Everybody happy.

But part of that loop, the process of turning uncertainty into progress, is trying things that turn out to be wrong. And that’s OK.

The more collective experience your team has, the more likely it is that someone will feel it’s off way before any data shows it is.

We’re all pattern recognition machines.

If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck.

So trust your gut.

Encourage your team to speak up if they feel like they’ve spotted a duck. And as always, do it yourself too. Because your actions speak louder than your words.

Curious how you identify ducks even faster?

Next week, my course Project Management Unraveled is open again for a new batch of 100 project managers.

It shows you the exact playbook I follow for turning uncertainty into progress, managing stakeholders, and leading teams from A to Z.

Built on a decade of projects and experiments, it’s the shortcut for developing as a project manager I wish I had a when I got started.

First come, first serve. Reserve your spot on the waitlist here and be the first to learn more.

Talk soon,
Jasper