Visionary decision-making happens at the intersection of intuition and logic

 "India lift the world cup after 28 years. And it's an Indian captain who has been absolutely magnificent in the night of the finale." This was the iconic commentary by Ravi Shashtri on India winning the Cricket World Cup 2011 at Wankhede stadium, Mumbai. M.S Dhoni made a decision to promote himself up the order to bat. At the early fall of two crucial wickets of Virendra Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar, India was in bad shape. So, he himself took a visionary decision that sealed the victory for the nation.

During Non Cooperation Movement, the mob in Uttar Pradesh at Chauri Chaura became hostile. Burnt the police station. Gandhi realised that non-violent movement was becoming violent. Despite the NCM being in full force, he made a decision to withdraw the movement. Many freedom fighters disagreed with him. Still he took the unpopular decision, because Gandhi had a vision what others didn't foresee. The mob could face extreme wrath and bargaining power gained through years could be gone in days. Indeed visionary decision making happens at the intersection of intuition and logic.

What does visionary mean here? What does intuition and logic mean? Who authorises someone to make a decision? Visionary is a word often associated with great leaders. Dr. Ambedkar was a great leader of downtrodden and low castes. He is the chief architect of Indian constitution. He had envisioned equality in the society for all. This has been reflective in the ideals enshrined in the constitution. Especially Article 14 to 18 are termed as right to equality, reflective of the vision Dr. Ambedkar had.

Intersection of intuition and logic is not mathematical in nature. Neither it is simply law followed. Nor it is calculative. But it does have a component of rationale to it. These situations arise because to know everything there is shortage of time or resources. And decisions need to be made quickly. A word which suits here is 'conjecture'- to make a decision on incomplete information. One such scenario was of Covid-19 pandemic.

Decision-making is prerogative of an authority which is legit. For modern state, this could be the government of the day. Honourable PM made an announcement of lockdown during the pandemic. Eventually, in the hindsight, the decision is lauded. Because death toll of India was very low when compared to that of developed nations- USA, Italy. For stateless societies, this decision making authority could be their leader or neutral figure. The Nuer tribe of South Sudan resolves their conflict by a neutral leopard skin chief. He is authorised by the tribe to make decision.

History is replete with examples of visionary decision-making with logic and intuition emulsified. 13th edict shows that after Kalinga war, Ashoka decided to gave up violence. He made a shift from 'Berigosha' (capture by force) to 'dhammagosha' (capture by peace). This indeed changed the course of history. Today Indian emblem is reflective of that Ashokan pillar. Many principles of Buddha are followed today in India's Foreign policy.

In 1991, when PV Narasimha Rao government brought LPG economic reforms, were indeed visionary. India had only 2 weeks of import cover. In those tough times, Finance minister Manmohan Singh took a bet via his intuition and logic. Today, the economy benefits from such historic decision-making. India currently has more than 600 billion dollars FOREX reserves.

Even, the guardian of our constitution, Supreme court made a landmark judgement- Kesavananda Bharati case (1973). It gave 'basic structure' doctrine. It has not been defined. It is an outcome of a shared vision of the judges backed by logic and somehow intuitive in nature. It says the Parliament can amend any part of the constitution but it cannot amend basic structure of it. Because they are so fundamental and intuitive that is necessary for the society.

Most of the scientific experiments are logical in nature. But it's application is always dependent on the way it is deployed. Robert Oppenheimer was the director of Manhattan project-making of an atom bomb. Also famously or infamously known as 'father of atomic bomb'. It was this discovery that eventually culminated into Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombing. That decision made was visionary to end WW2. But was it ethical, is the persistent question. Oppenheimer quoted from Bhagavad Gita, "I am death and destroyer of the world". He regretted later this decision of leading Manhattan project. Hence all decisions made from intuition and logic need not be visionary.

This is also reflected in India's atomic history. Dr. Homi Bhabha pushed for indigenous atom bomb. He was of the opinion, that this could be used as a detterance to war. Eventually, this vision took the form of Smiling Buddha (Pokharan 1 test 1974)- underground nuclear test. Later, in 1998 project Shakti, India declared as a nuclear state, where weaponisation of nuclear bomb was demonstrated. This would not have been possible without the logic and intuition of Dr. Homi Bhaba.

It is not always the case that this intuition combined with logic will auger well. Not even, if the decision is made by the same visionary leader. Honourable PM in 2016 made a decision of demonetisation. The goal was to curb black money. It turned out be painful experience for the citizen of the country. So, even the same leader whose vision in Covid-19 was historic in saving lives, demonetisation was in destroying lower income citizens.

However, the above decision had unintended consequences of pushing India into a digital payment movement. From the advent of Jio 4G, digital mode of payment took a front seat. UPI which enabled cashless payments took the world by storm. This is always the case with decision-making with intuition. It can turn out to be sweet or it can turn out to be bitter. The taste decides wether it was visionary or not.

Sports and games encapsulates the quote beautifully. Chess is a game often associated with intellect and logic. However, it is not always the case. Due to warrant of time, moves are made on intuition and logic together. Magnus Carlsen, 5 time world champion, is proof of that. Many a times, queen is sacrificed in the game, just because it feels more intuitive to gain a strategic advantage few moves down the line.

From historical leader such as Gandhi to Ambedkar. Sports person like Dhoni to Magnus Carlsen. Nuclear power USA to India, scientists from Oppenheimer to Homi Bhabha- are all historic today, where they stand, because of many visionary decisions made at the intersection of intuition and logic.