Instinct-to-Action Alignment Test
Test whether the work feels yours, then act instead of merely noticing.
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 6
- Confidence
- 91%
Jessie J repeatedly distinguishes trusting instinct from acting on it. Her practical test for creative alignment is concrete: would she buy or listen to the work herself, can she see the audience sharing it with her, and does it sound like something only she could make rather than something several artists could perform? A persistent mismatch becomes a prompt for a bounded action—restart the record, change the team, or test a direction she believes in—rather than endless internal agreement. She also warns against absorbing other people's fear when it reflects what they feel unable to deliver. The framework does not make instinct infallible; Jessie J explicitly says a choice can prove wrong and still produce learning.
Origin
Extracted from The Diary of a CEO
Core principles
- 01Recognising misalignment is not enough; a decision changes only through action.
- 02The strongest work should be recognisably yours rather than interchangeable with others' work.
- 03Outside fear can reflect other people's delivery limits rather than your own potential.
- 04A decision can teach you even when its outcome is uncertain.
How to run it
- 1
Name the mismatch
Identify the project, relationship, or decision that repeatedly feels wrong despite appearing acceptable on paper. Describe the mismatch in specific terms rather than calling it merely a bad feeling.
Pro tip Revisit the signal after a short pause to see whether it persists.
Watch out A temporary mood is weaker evidence than a recurring mismatch.
- 2
Run the ownership test
Ask whether you would choose, use, buy, or stand behind the result yourself. For creative work, ask whether you can recognise yourself and the intended audience in it.
Pro tip Evaluate the finished experience, not only how hard you worked on it.
Watch out Personal taste is useful evidence, not proof of market demand.
- 3
Check distinctiveness
Ask whether the result expresses capabilities, perspective, or values that are specifically yours. If several others could produce it unchanged, identify what has been muted.
Pro tip Name one quality that should make the work recognisable without a label.
Watch out Distinctive does not have to mean unfamiliar or commercially untested.
- 4
Separate fear sources
Distinguish your own evidence-based concern from colleagues' projections about what they can support or deliver. Listen to objections without automatically inheriting them.
Pro tip Ask each person to connect an objection to evidence or a concrete constraint.
Watch out Do not dismiss expertise merely because it conflicts with your instinct.
- 5
Act on the signal
Choose a concrete and proportionate move: pause, revise, test, restart, or leave. Make the smallest action that genuinely changes the direction.
Pro tip Prefer a bounded test before an irreversible move when uncertainty is high.
Watch out High-risk decisions require more than intuition alone.
- 6
Learn from the branch
Review what happened after acting and what the result reveals about your judgment. Treat an imperfect outcome as information rather than proof that acting was a mistake.
Pro tip Record the signal, action, and outcome before hindsight rewrites the decision.
Watch out Learning does not erase preventable harm from a reckless choice.
In the wild
Jessie J says she listened to a completed album and could not see its audience or hear music uniquely identifiable as hers. With her label's support, she returned to the studio and began again, while leaving open the possibility that some earlier songs might be reworked or that she could later revise her judgment.
→ A persistent creative mismatch produced a concrete restart rather than a release she could not stand behind.
A founder realises they would not choose their own product over similar tools and cannot name what reflects their specific insight. Instead of cancelling everything, they run a one-week prototype focused on the missing distinction and compare user response with the original.
→ Instinct becomes a bounded experiment that can generate evidence.
Common mistakes
Calling every impulse instinct
The framework relies on a persistent, specific signal grounded in direct experience rather than a passing mood.
Ignoring contrary expertise
Separating projections from evidence does not mean rejecting informed objections or concrete constraints.
Taking the largest possible action
Acting on instinct can begin with a bounded test; it need not require an immediate irreversible decision.
Is it for you?
Best for
Creators and professionals evaluating a project, role, or team decision where they have direct experience and a persistent sense of mismatch.
Not ideal for
Decisions involving medical care, legal duties, immediate safety, or major irreversible consequences without evidence and qualified advice.
From the transcript
“i don't just trust my instinct i act on it”
“i wouldn't put this on and listen to it”
“make a decision and then we'll learn from either which way we went”
From the episode
Jessie J: I Quit Music, Deleted An Album, Then Changed My Mind