Smithers also said when he took office, "I'm skeptical about the ability to effect change." There were already many factors that worried him, including the fact that such a program might raise workers' expectations too much. Smithers also knew that the separation between engineering and operations already existed to an extreme between Sigtek's two departments. He had already had many clashes with his counterpart, Sam Murphy, who would lead the quality change program at the operational level. Smithers said it was a joke saying, "It was like putting oil and water together." With all these concerns known, Smithers should have listened to his intuition and conveyed the position or forcefully raised these concerns before accepting it. Despite all these doubts he felt obligated and wanted to demonstrate loyalty to the company. Neuroscientist Antonio Damasio of the University of Southern California tells us it's important to pay attention to "somatic markers." They send messages that something feels right or doesn't. The more you pay attention to the outcome of trusting your intuition in combination with the facts, the better your future decision making can become. quote: @. (2015). Scientific proof that your instincts are the best at making decisions. Retrieved September 18, 2016,