06-23-2026IMPACT COUNCIL

20 leaders: Data or gut instinct?

How to choose one approach or the other for decision-making.

[Photo: Getty Images]

The Fast Company Impact Council is an invitation-only membership community of top leaders and experts who pay dues for access to peer learning, thought leadership, and more.

BY Fast Company Impact Council

Data is increasingly available on almost every aspect of business: market research, sales, social media, financial metrics. But just because it’s available, should it be used for all decision-making? We asked our Fast Company Impact Council how they balance data-driven decision-making with their gut instinct. The answers may surprise you.

1. USE ALL AVAILABLE INFORMATION AT YOUR DISPOSAL

Data-driven decision-making and gut instinct is a false dichotomy. Using data to make decisions often requires significant amounts of gut instinct as no study or metric ever delivers certainty. Being a good product and experience leader is about using all of the available information at your disposal from the data, your team, your long-range objectives, and your lived experience to make the smartest decisions possible. — Peter Smart, Fantasy

2. SET A TIMELINE FOR DECISIONS

My company is completely committed to a data-driven approach. We collect data on every function, customer, product action, and employee and I see that as a real strength of what we do as an organization. However, the data almost never provides “the answer.” It’s like talking to my high school daughter about future college and job choices. We gather as much information as we can (in the time we have), but we have to decide with imperfect information. Work is exactly the same. The key is setting a timeline for decisions and gathering as much information as you can before making the final decision, with your gut helping to balance risk. — Thomas Scott, Wrike

3. PATTERN RECOGNITION AND EXPERIENCE MATTER MORE

Data shows you what worked. It rarely tells you what’s next. In a market evolving as fast as agentic AI, pattern recognition and experience matter more than any dashboard. I use data to frame the problem, then trust my instincts and move fast. Hesitate, and the window closes. Make the call, learn quickly, and iterate. That’s how you stay ahead. — Lior Div, 7AI

4. DATA IS OFTEN RICHER IN THE REAR-VIEW MIRROR

Data and gut instinct, which I translate as domain knowledge, work together to increase the value of information and guide better decisions. A data-driven decision implies confidence in the data accuracy and the ability to make unbiased decisions based on inferences. The challenge is that data is often richer in the rear-view mirror than it is forward-looking. Domain knowledge provides the basis for what must be true about the data, the dependencies, and risks associated with realizing the planned outcome. It should not negate the inferences of high-quality data, but support the right questions and qualifications of the data at hand. — Andrea Montecchi, Oliver Wight

5. GUT TELLS YOU WHAT’S POSSIBLE

Data tells you what happened. Gut tells you........

© Fast Company