I think it depends on the kind of person you are. Use what you have. I'm the type that will routinely head off to a restaurant with only vague information abou

I think it depends on the kind of person you are. Use what you have. I'm the type that will routinely head off to a restaurant with only vague information about where it is or what its name is. "It's probably down here, this seems like a street that would have mexican restaurants on it..." "I've been there once before, and I remember it was on a block that was on the edge of a hill that sloped off toward the morning sun..." It seems crazy, but the reason I end up doing this is because it works a surprising amount of the time. I end up getting there, somehow. With work, I find that I end up relying on intuition the same way. The downside is that until I'm familiar with the problem space, I tend to be more unsure of myself than my rational peers. The upside is that once I learn the space, I can move more quickly with less information than they do. Edit: Like others said below, the other downside is that this can sometimes lead to surprisingly bad results, especially in new and unfamiliar areas. I've been trying to exercise my logic muscles more recently to help with this.