Abstract How do cognitive micro‐foundations impact organizational decision‐making in public management? The study focuses on the relationships between two cognitive micro‐processes (intuitive, type I and rational, type II) and the contrasting organizational decision‐making approaches of strategic planning and organizational spontaneity. Drawing on survey data from managers working across a range of public services in Brazil, the findings reveal that rational reasoning drives both approaches to organizational decision‐making. Intuitive reasoning, on the other hand, is observed to drive strategic planning only. Two socio‐psychological mechanisms moderate the core relationships: bureaucracy strengthens the rational reasoning–planning relationship, but weakens the intuitive reasoning–spontaneity relationship, while organizational learning plays a critical role in activating the intuitive reasoning–organizational spontaneity relationship. Post‐hoc analysis of variance reveals a group of public service organizations that rely heavily on both decision‐making modes and highlights the core features enabling paradoxical decision‐making.
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