The Intelligence Collaborative - an introduction

[Eric Garland]

Dear fellow intelligence professionals,

We've been talking for a few weeks now about a collaborative to unify the various types of intelligence out there, to create more connections, and improve the whole concept of using information to solve problems in organizations.

As you have no doubt heard, our inaugural live meeting is October 22nd, this Thursday, here in Washington, DC. Tickets are free, sponsors are buying drinks, and the subject is the use of social media in organizations. Come out out!

I put together a video to help explain to intelligence professionals and others why we need a richer dialogue. Love to hear your thoughts!

[Arik Johnson]

Very well done Eric - let the retweeting begin!

[Tadeusz Lemańczyk]

Are you sure those guys in uniform

are really ready, willing and able to collaborate (to work together, esp. for a special purpose) with us? ;-)

[Eric Garland]

Tadeusz, this is a great point. In the "competitive intelligence" side of the house, we have a tendency to think that government people have little in common with us.

Then again, the strategists, market researchers and business development guys think we're the strange ones.

I think that's more to my point about The Intelligence Collaborative - it's time we all started listening to each other, because our mental processes have way more in common than we realize. And since all of our social systems are interconnected, we should be working together for a more rational, humane world.

[Arik Johnson]

The thing we have in common is that any and all strategy, policy and decisions should be in response to sound intelligence, a product of the intelligence process. Not the other way around.

Ask Colin Powell what he thinks of this idea; then ask pretty much any CI practitioner you care to meet and you'll see immediately that we have a lot more in common than it would appear on the surface.

[Eric Garland]

I daresay that Colin Powell learned this lesson the hard way back in '02 - '03.

[Arik Johnson]

Precisely

[Eric Garland]

The uniform thing is really important - it sends off signals to us because we think, consciously or subconsciously - aha! This guy's culture is more important than his ability to do intelligence. Even if he is the smartest guy in the world, able to capture the meaning behind extremely sensitive patterns and make rock-solid recommendations to his leadership, sometimes he won't be able to speak his mind. We know that the culture of an organization is often more important than its practices.

Now, if we're honest with ourselves, we'll also realize that every private business, corporation and non-profit is in essentially the same situation. And then we'll be to a really useful place, where we realize that this is what defines an intelligence professional - someone as familiar with data and implications and strategy as they are with the realities of our modern bureaucracies.

[Tadeusz Lemańczyk]

We know more about using in government information gathered by private business than about using in private business information gathered by government and what's more even Frederick Hitz, whom I quoted ( http://fedcba.ning.com/video/why-spy-the-quoted-fragment-of ) during my blended learning ( http://fedcba.ning.com/group/bi/forum/topics/realistycznie-o-szpieg... ), knows more about those processes developed in China than in the USA. Therefore, do you imagine already today American private business using information gathered by the KGB and Russian private business using information gathered by the CIA? In sum, how much is in today's world room for Intelligence Collaborative and how much is still room for Competitive Intelligence? Let me emphasize--competitive in every meaning of this adjective.

[Alan S. Michaels]

Great video... very professional.... great background and great set-up of the need for: The Intelligence Collaborative.

As for next step: "let's just get talking".... hmmm... that sounds logical, open, fair, etc. However...

My three cents is that it's much better to have someone (or two: Eric & Arik? or a small group) with a vision and passion and SUPERIOR intellect to DRIVE to a stated goal using a clear methodology that can be constructively adapted via input from others who also believe strongly in the group's vision. (Jefferson wrote the first draft of the Declaration of Independence.) The vision and methodology for moving ahead can be defined on one page - and that structure is required to BUILD a growing knowledgebase and membership group with a shared goal.

Otherwise, in two months, someone will look back and say... "Hey, this has been a great conversation, but what do we do now?"
.

[Eric Garland]

Well, ironically, it's been a few of us driving this, and our goal is meetings, media, and training. Our first meeting is Thursday, there's media up at the top of this screen, and we'll probably promote some online training soon. And all of it so far includes a broad concept of intelligence, bringing in gov't intel, business development, strategy, and librarians, if our guest list for Thursday is any indicator.

I think we see eye to eye on this ;-)

[Babette Bensoussan]

Well done Eric - your usual high standard.... Hopefully those of us Down Under will also be able to contribute in some way. Please let me know how the meeting in DC goes.

Best
Babette

[Vivek Raghuvanshi]

Ideal by the book example of Intelligence Collaborative using PPP Model

Check out this Article dated 1st October 09
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http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/agriculture/Indian...

Indian agri-input companies thrive, thanks to sustained rural demand


The French scanned the environment and BINGO! - Ideal example of PPP MODEL using OODA Loop.
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26th October 09 - News Article which is self-explanatory.
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http://sify.com/news/France-to-help-India-boost-food-processing-sec...

France to help India boost food processing sector