The excellent idea, Alli. In particular Sun Tzu is very inspirational. From part XIII. The Use of Spies of his work The Art of War ( http://classics.mit.edu/Tzu/artwar.html ), I'd like to recommend especially the advice: "Be subtle! be subtle! and use your spies for every kind of business." :-)
This, from Tom Stonier:
'Intelligence is . . . a property of any information-processing system which is able to analyse its environment, then, on the basis of that analysis, respond in a manner which enhances its chances of survival.'
From Colin Leicester:
'Knowing which information to obtain is halfway to solving a problem.'
From Albert Einstein:
'Genius is knowing where to look.'
From Matt Price:
'For hundreds of years, one of the central planks of a decent education was being taught how to find information. In barely a half-dozen years, the internet has made this skill all but obsolete. Suddenly, it's sorting information that's become crucial - learning to identify flecks of gold among the hectares of bullshit. Critical, sceptical, analytical thinking has never been more important.'
From Ben Gilad:
'Only human sources can provide commentary, opinion, feelings, intuition, emotions, and commitment.'
Finally (for the time being), from Ogden Nash:
'Shake and shake and shake the bottle
First none'll come and then a lot'll'
I like this topic. I have a few that I particularly like - some are admittedly tongue in cheek:
"Intelligence analysts define reality for decision makers who's actions could alter it." My modification of a version originally penned by John Perry Barlow
We have enough youth. When will someone finally discover the fountain of smart? - Anonymous
"To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead." - Thomas Paine
"No amount of advance planning will ever replace dumb luck." - Anonymous
"Competitive intelligence beats uncompetitive stupidity, every time." - I just made that one up.
The Unknown
As we know,
There are known knowns.
There are things we know we know.
We also know
There are known unknowns.
That is to say
We know there are some things
We do not know.
But there are also unknown unknowns,
The ones we don't know
We don't know.
—Feb. 12, 2002, Department of Defense news briefing
Although to be fair, this reminds me of the Johari Window
Thanks Tad. I remembered Winston Churchill (always good for a quote and a cigar):
"I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma; but perhaps there is a key. That key is Russian national interest."
You've hit the bull's-eye, Woz. I mentioned another Churchill's thought last year on Debate Europe English forum ( http://forums.ec.europa.eu/debateeurope/viewtopic.php?t=1176&st... ). Do exchange "a politician" for "a CI professional" and you will get a quite real CI quote "A CI professional needs the ability to foretell what is going to happen tomorrow, next week, next month, and next year. And to have the ability afterwards to explain why it didn't happen." ;-)
Have we all been here? Given today's competitive climate and a series of changes in management later, we have to go in there and either 'drink from the fire hose' or 'painfully tease' the need from those colleagues who have mandates to make decisi...
Great! I recognise some familiar faces in there. Congratulations to all involved, Jens and other hard working colleagues within the Swiss Competitive Intelligence Alliance, Kurt and friends. Something to aim for in the UK
Vivek, we will need to start another website with a spare 100,000 pages to properly discuss this. And that's just to discuss the impact of CBS purchasing Fender and/or the innovation's of Line 6 on the effects modeling world.