Follow Here To Purchase Strategic Intuition: The Creative Spark in Human Achievement

Author: William Duggan

Publisher: Columbia Business School

ISBN:  978-0—231-14268-7

Columbia Business School Associate Professor William Duncan has written a fascinating book called Strategic Intuition about how we humans have intuition, can sometimes recognize it and use it to our advantage. Even though one would expect this book in an academic setting, even the lay person can understand, learn and glean from its ideas.

This two hundred page hard cover book has a front jacket cover of white jagged lines on a black background with wording and four book reviews on the back. It has a content page and a preface along with seventeen detailed pages of notes, an index and a few charts. It is written in casual, easy-to-comprehend style with contractions and dangling prepositions but no typographical or grammatical errors.

Duggan has done an exceptional job explaining his theory regarding three types of intuition. There is the ordinary, which is a gut feeling, the expert, which comes from previous knowledge or experience and the strategic, which is a “flash” of insight. He mainly hones in on strategic intuition, breaking it down to four unique steps: history, presence of mind, the flash of the insight itself and resolution.

With these four steps adapted from Carl von Clausewitz, Duggan applies them to famous rulers, scientists, artists and self-made millionaires who have altered history or the way we now live. Napoleon, Patton, Bill Gates, Paul Allen, Steve Jobs, Alice Paul, Martin Luther King Muhammad Yunus, Picasso, John Dewey and John F. Kennedy all supposedly had “flashes” of intuition that catapulted them into their newfound place in history.

The book is methodically arranged in an understandable, organized order, starting with past theories on intuition and how they no longer are correct. He systematically shows his applied theory to a person in history or progressive idea. He also compares his idea to up-to-date concepts using detailed charts. Chapters included discuss the application of his theory with science, neuroscience, the military, spiritual beliefs, business, society, arts and education. Duggan believes that we are creative from “stealing” an idea from the past, having a “flash” of strategic intuition which expands on that original idea and implementing the new idea.

Any person can relate to this intriguing theory in reflecting on his or her daily life, be it in the professional, academic, business, financial or even spiritual field. Unfortunately, most of the time it is noticed after the “flash” has happened, not during it. Duggan brings up only Buddha’s path to self-enlightenment via Dharma, Karma, Zen or Tao beliefs under the spiritual section. He does not consider a fifth concept: that intuition of any kind is given to us by God/Creator/Superior Being and it is He that is in control and knows the timing, outcome and reason behind it. This could be the most important key to exploring how our minds work as “In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths” Proverbs 3:6. Or could this be a book reviewer’s “flash” on Duggan’s writings?


Follow Here To Purchase Strategic Intuition: The Creative Spark in Human Achievement