Three weeks ago saw the near sinking of the Concordia, a huge mega cruise ship designed to be virtually unsinkable. But it did. So who was to blame?

When faced with that very question, many people very quickly concluded that it must be the Captain – in fact they were so sure that he quickly became Italy’s number one hated person. But on what basis is this decision made? If you ask people they say it is obvious “it had to be him”. When you analyse it, they have made a decision based on their gut reaction, rather than thought and logic.

When you think about it, can it really be the case that in 2012, a single man can override all of the safety procedures and sink a ship with 10 times as many passengers as a jumbo jet? No one would design a system where that was possible would they?

Much evidence is not available yet, but still everyone is adamant that it must be him. This demonstrates the curious strength of our gut feeling. This phenomena is often reported in jury’s  - “I just had a feeling he had done it”

In business, the World of the intellect prevails, possible fuelled by the need to justify every decision and stoked by the methodological world of the best practice consultant. But many leaders have admitted to the fact that their best decisions were based on their gut  – and the ones who made bad decisions often declare that they should have trusted their instincts.

Oddly enough the Concordia is a good reminder for all of us to check in with our various senses – as Concordia translates to  the word “Heart” which appears to be more responsible for our decisions than our head.