Can anything be more fascinating than knowing how and why we think in the way we do. There have been many illuminating books and articles on this subject by some brilliant people. The human mind is amazing, but it does have limitations (hey tell me about it) and sometimes does some surprising things. What interests [...]
Doctrine is never the most exciting of subjects, but spare me a few moments and let me justify your time. I know there are many with the view that intelligence work is more about the art of common sense than a science of deduction. There are indeed people in the intelligence business who do not [...]
Few would be willing to admit to that of their own company perhaps, but we are often happy to recognise this condition in our competitors or other companies. I wonder though if we are being completely honest about our own operations and decision-making. Image by courtesy of http://onewaystock.com/ For instance, it is [...]
The MD of QRO Global, Martyn Denton, comments on the application of intelligence in challenging regions. Download the article "Intelligence and Planning in High Risk Environments". Do you want to understand better the business dynamics in your sector? Are you looking for options to drive forward your business in a challenging environment? To find out [...]
Almost every intelligence organisation seems to employ a different method to express probability as part of their intelligence processes. Probability being the level of confidence the analyst has in relation to each piece of intelligence, resultant hypotheses or the overall assessment. Not surprisingly, any ambiguity in the expression of probability has an impact on the [...]
Let us clarify the relationship between classification, accuracy of information, reliability of source and the distribution of intelligence. There is often confusion over these four aspects of our work as many people are tempted to link them together. For example, I often hear the view that top secret information is, due to its high classification, [...]
The intelligence cycle is a great piece of doctrine and one which has kept us, in the intelligence business, on the straight and narrow for so long. It has served us well and I'm sure will continue to do so into the future. There are elements of it though that need examination past the obvious. [...]
"Applied intelligence exploits relevant basic and current intelligence to meet the specific requirements of and to provide direct support to the decision-making process" This is in contrast to: Basic intelligence - reference material for planning and provides the background to a potential adversary and the operational environment. It embraces issues such as the organisation, doctrine, [...]
Is there a case within the Intelligence Cycle for a validation phase? I hear it argued that the Intelligence Cycle lacks depth due to its simplistic structure and its four basic stages of Direction, Collection, Processing and Dissemination. Others maintain that its simplicity is its strength as long as its employment is controlled and managed [...]
