For most civilians, the traditional image of the military and its efforts is based on words like “strategy,” “tactics,” “maneuvers,” “objectives,” and “operations.”  It’s a very left-brained, linear language style that connotes narrow focus, a strict methodology, and rules that leave very little wiggle room.

But in the spirit of “Be All You Can Be,” today’s military is studying – and speaking publicly about – a new level of defense called intuition.

An article in this week’s New York Times gives a fascinating account of recent research that the military is conducting in order to better understand the power of intuition on the battlefield.  With billions spent on cutting-edge hardware and technology that detects and jams the signals of explosive devices, “[it] remains a mere supplement to the most sensitive detection system of all — the human brain.”

Based on experience and keen perception, soldiers on the ground become sensitive to the smallest changes in their environment.  Visual signals sent through the brain result in gut feelings. Military and scientific studies are showing that when using intuition as a tool, a soldier has “the ability to step back and observe the bigger picture: extra tension in the air, unusual rhythms in Iraqi daily life, oddities in behavior.”

This is powerful stuff that could have immeasurable impact on the military of the future, as well as your own business.

Not long ago people thought of emotions as old stuff, as just feelings — feelings that had little to do with rational decision making, or that got in the way of it,” said Dr. Antonio Damasio, director of the Brain and Creativity Institute at the University of Southern California. “Now that position has reversed. We understand emotions as practical action programs that work to solve a problem, often before we’re conscious of it. These processes are at work continually, in pilots, leaders of expeditions, parents, all of us.”

Many of us have had intuition trained right out of us by traditional business schools, managers, and mission statements.  But now, even the military is saying that’s a mistake.

Here are a couple of things to think about when it comes to the topic of intuition:

1)  Your female customers are wired for intuition. With four times as many connections between hemispheres of the brain, women are tapping into the areas of emotion, imagination, and intuition at warp speed.  Your female customer is constantly measuring your authenticity on the bullshit meter.

And with eyes that are wired for big-picture vision, she’s registering the subtlest of changes in your message and customer experience.  Ask a woman why she stopped buying from you and she might not be able to verbalize it – but her brain knows why.

2)  Your best sales employees have the greatest intuition. Just like the officers in the U.S. military, the highest achievers have an innate sense of what to look for and are flexible in their reactions.  They may be the biggest readers of sales literature and take lots of training courses, but in the end rely on good old-fashioned intuition.

I’m willing to bet that if you have 8 salespeople on staff and 2 are super achievers, you have at least 2 more potential rock stars who have stifled their intuition because it’s what they’ve been taught to do.  Maybe now is the time to start promoting and encouraging the use of intuition in the sales experience. It will take some time before your staff actually believes you’re giving them the authority to do it, but after a few successful (and large) sales, they’ll be on fire.

Intuition is becoming increasingly recognized as a powerful tool, not only for soldiers, but leaders of every kind.  Why not let a little intuition into your life?  I have a hunch it will prove to be very fruitful for you.