Cover Story
3. Act on the information you have
Smart Business Chicago | November 2009
Ann Drake lives by one of the oldest clichés in the book: Trust your gut instinct.
To Drake, CEO of DSC Logistics Inc., a 2,000-employee logistics and supply chain company, that means acquiring all the information you can and then acting on it.
“Your instincts are valuable,” she says. “… When I have this intuition about something, it’s usually right. That helps you move faster.”
Following your instincts doesn’t mean that if you have a hunch, you instantly act on it. Instead, it’s taking the course of action that makes the most sense to you and doing your best to explain it to others.
“You have to articulate it enough to convince others, …” Drake says. “The best is to give some examples, and even discussing it with people is a big move.”
Many executives get caught up on metrics and their efforts are stalled because the idea of using the best information available and making a decision ahead of the market often grinds the wheels of business to a screeching halt. But Drake rejects this thinking, instead insisting that innovation usually comes from those entrepreneurs working on short information and high adaptability. In fact, she preaches going with an educated instinct to her team.
“I’ll often say, go with your intuition, go with what you think, decide right now,” she says. “It’s also one of those things that you can work on with younger employees, because they haven’t had the benefit of people talking to them about this. … It’s these kinds of things that help push you.”
