Now, part of that is the Jesuits at Santa Clara, who taught me about right and wrong. But part of it was just that gut feeling.
Craft & work
What role should instinct play in major decisions?
13 answers answered between 1991 and 2026
Originally asked
The American Academy of Achievement, to its honourees, its oral-history interviews
Near-verbatim recurring Academy prompt about judgment under pressure.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
On the record
Public figures who have answered a question like this elsewhere. Quoted from the source shown, not written for FLAPSS.
Read by field
Everyone
Science and medicine 1
Arts and letters 5
Politics and public life 3
Business and finance 1
Technology 2
Sport 1
Leon Panetta
Attorney and politician; Director of the Office of Management and Budget, White House Chief of Staff, Director of the CIA and Secretary of Defense
Desmond Tutu
Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town; chair of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission; Nobel Peace Prize, 1984
But the thing I think that thrust me possibly into the public consciousness, I had just been elected Bishop of Lesotho. I had gone there to become bishop and I went for a retreat. I don’t know — I mean, I don’t know what happened but it just seemed like God was saying to me, “You’ve got to write a letter to the Prime Minister.” And the letter wrote itself.
Edmund Hillary
Mountaineer and explorer; first ascent of Everest, 1953
I think it was a combination of feeling and judgment. I happened to be that sort of person that enjoyed making out plans, but I also enjoy changing plans. On an expedition, although I may start out with a detailed plan, I’m prepared to change it at any moment and completely redo it. So our expeditions turned out to be very adaptable ones. We achieved the final objectives just the same as many other expeditions, but maybe we had more fun in the process because it seemed something we could vary. We still carried on to achieve our major objectives.
0 answers from members
Nobody has answered this one yet.
More on craft & work
- What is the worst job you have done? 236 answers
- What do you consider your greatest achievement? 203 answers
- How does a new work begin for you? 81 answers
- What do you do when you feel creatively blocked or stuck? 80 answers
- How do you know when a piece of work is finished? 75 answers
- How much rewriting or revision do you do? 58 answers