Intuition

My mother recently accompanied me to the doctor’s office for a checkup when I was back in Paris. Having her with me reminded me of my time as a kid. She had with her my old “Carnet de Santé” or health journal, which I was given when I was very young and contains records of every medical visit, vaccination, and other health event in my life. Not a bad idea for a company… I know many are trying, but it doesn’t seem like anyone has done this right given that I’d be hard-pressed to piece together my medical data here in America.

Anyway, this was at the American Hospital of Paris where the doctor she trusts practices, and being at a hospital we got to see quite the cast of characters, which reminded me of the fragility of our existence, as well as its duality: at times wondrous and carefree, at times brutal and full of weight.

Maman commented on how gloomy these places usually are, and insisted on making conversation with me and those around us, fighting back against the quiet and sad status quo. To me, in private I reassure you, she commented on the various doctors walking by with her immediate read on them.

“Oh gosh. Him — I don’t like his face one bit. Very cold… no empathy.”

And thankfully, when ours arrived…

“Il a quand même une bonne gueule, non?”

“You’ve got to say he’s got a good face, am I right?”

And he did. It was my first time meeting him and yet I trusted him immediately, and felt as if I already had a long history with him.

“Calm, reassuring, competent.” She was right. Those things he was. It was evident.

I’ve always operated like this too ever since I can remember, and I’ve always believed that this is something that my mother has passed on to me.

We feel people strongly. I look around a crowded room and I get the impression that I understand each face, and generally a person’s essence.

On a daily basis, I let myself be led by my intuition and at times rely solely on it to make decisions: whom to work with, which companies to back, which subjects to work on, where to go and with whom.

We live in a world that values reason above most things, especially in the business world, but my favorite things in the world and in business cannot be explained rationally. I think that as soon as you decompose certain things, you lose some of the magic.

Whenever I try to over-reason, or to override my intuition, that is usually when I go wrong.

As my favorite author wrote in The Little Prince:

“L’essentiel est invisible pour les yeux, on ne voit bien qu’avec le cœur.”

“What is essential is invisible to the eye; one only sees clearly with the heart.”