Unconventional Wisdom

Contrary to the conventional definition of intuition as ``the power of knowing without recourse to inference or reasoning,'' Schultz, president of Creative Services Group, here develops a discipline for cultivating and enhancing intuitive apprehension through experience and ``thought-training.'' He cites a dozen decision-makers (only two of them are women) who say they follow their hunches or ``gut feelings.'' Among them are Apple computer CEO John Sculley, who agreed to air a controversial and attention-getting commercial in 1984; Time-Warner Enterprises CEO Robert Pittman, who challenged the common wisdom in creating MTV; NASA director of mission operations Eugene Kranz, who guided the Apollo 13 crew through a life-threatening crisis. However, having noted Carl Jung's comments on the malleability of the mind, Schultz concludes that intuition ``is only as good as the knowledge and experience that feed it.'' The case histories are interesting, but the data presented are sometimes contradictory, which can raise readers' doubts. (Mar.)