Harnessing the Power of Intelligence, Counterintelligence & Surprise Events

Rating:
Summary: Turning Intelligence into Value
Review: "Ninety percent of the information used in organizations is internally focused and only ten percent about the outside environment. This is exactly backwards." -- Peter Drucker

As usual, in one pithy phrase, management sage Peter Drucker captured the central problem facing organizations in uncertain environments -- they look in the wrong place. In volatile times, humans tend to hunker down in the cocoon of the controllable. Effective leaders embrace such times as an opportunity for greatness, when the prepared organization can jump ahead of ostrich-like competition.

Yet, few management advisors opine on how to combat these human tendencies and systematically scan, analyze and act in uncertain environments. Michael Porter's classic works on Competitive Strategy and Competitive Advantage did dispense advice on competitive intelligence gathering, but did not attend to the conversion of intelligence into commercial advantage. Alain Martin's new book "Harnessing the Power of Intelligence" compiles tested processes which create such value.

Martin's frameworks are based on research at American Express, Boeing, Dell, DuPont, GlaxoSmithKline, and Microsoft as well as application of his ideas in businesses, government, and the military. The book has the most up to date, and complete list of intelligence sources. For example, Martin cites the University of California at Berkeley "invisible web" project, which has shown that search engines only document about 15% of the business intelligence available publicly, because the vast majority of it is either not in a standard hypertext format or not linked to a public domain name (the silent campers). His framework on issue incubation, shows that large scale issues go through a relatively predictable process of incubation and development. Many leaders make the mistake of getting on an issue too early or too late. The issue incubation process delineates ways to recognize the progression of topics, and provides advice on if, when and how to intervene. Martin also has a tool called, Factional Analysis that helps a manager analyze who is likely to influence a volatile situation (from allies to adversaries). This tool is much richer than the traditional stakeholder analysis for it includes roles that do not fit in the normal economic calculus. For example, he includes "fanatics" in the analysis -- people whose sole purpose is to disrupt.

A leader can take the advice in this book and use it to guide outward looking intelligence, assess the current state of issues (or do a triage on a surprise event), and then take concerted action.

At points, the book does suffer from the same weakness of Porter's books in that its desire for completeness, the text often has a "list-like" feel. But, on balance this book provides a framework full of tested tools to turn uncertainty into value.

Rating:
Summary: Turning Intelligence into Value
Review: "Ninety percent of the information used in organizations is internally focused and only ten percent about the outside environment. This is exactly backwards." -- Peter Drucker

As usual, in one pithy phrase, management sage Peter Drucker captured the central problem facing organizations in uncertain environments -- they look in the wrong place. In volatile times, humans tend to hunker down in the cocoon of the controllable. Effective leaders embrace such times as an opportunity for greatness, when the prepared organization can jump ahead of ostrich-like competition.

Yet, few management advisors opine on how to combat these human tendencies and systematically scan, analyze and act in uncertain environments. Michael Porter's classic works on Competitive Strategy and Competitive Advantage did dispense advice on competitive intelligence gathering, but did not attend to the conversion of intelligence into commercial advantage. Alain Martin's new book "Harnessing the Power of Intelligence" compiles tested processes which create such value.

Martin's frameworks are based on research at American Express, Boeing, Dell, DuPont, GlaxoSmithKline, and Microsoft as well as application of his ideas in businesses, government, and the military. The book has the most up to date, and complete list of intelligence sources. For example, Martin cites the University of California at Berkeley "invisible web" project, which has shown that search engines only document about 15% of the business intelligence available publicly, because the vast majority of it is either not in a standard hypertext format or not linked to a public domain name (the silent campers). His framework on issue incubation, shows that large scale issues go through a relatively predictable process of incubation and development. Many leaders make the mistake of getting on an issue too early or too late. The issue incubation process delineates ways to recognize the progression of topics, and provides advice on if, when and how to intervene. Martin also has a tool called, Factional Analysis that helps a manager analyze who is likely to influence a volatile situation (from allies to adversaries). This tool is much richer than the traditional stakeholder analysis for it includes roles that do not fit in the normal economic calculus. For example, he includes "fanatics" in the analysis -- people whose sole purpose is to disrupt.

A leader can take the advice in this book and use it to guide outward looking intelligence, assess the current state of issues (or do a triage on a surprise event), and then take concerted action.

At points, the book does suffer from the same weakness of Porter's books in that its desire for completeness, the text often has a "list-like" feel. But, on balance this book provides a framework full of tested tools to turn uncertainty into value.

Rating:
Summary: Harnessing the Power of Intelligence, Counterintelligence &
Review: "This outstanding book on intelligence brings new knowledge and practical tools within the reach of a broad range of managers and entrepreneurs. It has already helped me prepare for negotiations and see new and ethical applications of intelligence in project management. The pioneering work of the author on Factional Analysis and Value Incubation has wide-ranging applications including team building and Customer Relationship Management (CRM)."

Rating:
Summary: A masterful work
Review: Alain Paul Martin gives us a new, non-traditional, and thought-provoking guide to intelligence gathering and strategic planning. This book is must reading for decision makers. Its incisive analyses, practical framework, and real-world examples provide valuable lessons that can be immediately put to use as we cope with our ever-changing world. Mr. Martin deserves our congratulations and our gratitude for this masterful work.

Rating:
Summary: Innovative Ideas and Road Maps Welcomed in Japan
Review: Alain Paul Martin's "Harnessing the Power of Intelligence, Counterintelligence & Surprise Events" is a great pleasure to read. This practical book is clearly based on extensive research and fieldwork in competitive intelligence in America, Europe and Japan. For over a decade, Japan has been shifting from large-scale manufacturing to a knowledge-based economy, and moving production facilities to Asian countries. The competitive-intelligence method and road maps described in this book can help managers fast-track projects and new-product development, and succeed in this new environment.

As a scientist who has made the transition from managing R&D in a global company to educating graduate students in management, I recommend Martin's book to entrepreneurs, scientists and fellow educators. I also agree with Harvard Professor Mark Thompson who states: "Alain martin has deftly incorporated, adapted, challenged, and complemented the insights of Fuld, Porter, Sun Tzu, and others to achieve a superb practical guide to the strategic and tactical management of institutional information."

Professor S. Ohara, Chiba Institute of Technology, Japan

Rating:
Summary: Serious Book on Competitive Intelligence
Review: I have read countless publications on strategy and competitive intelligence. Since I was often disappointed, I was hesitant to buy the new book "Harnessing the Power of Intelligence" and commit precious hours to study its content. But I quickly changed my mind after glancing over the long list of testimonials from well-respected intelligence experts and executives who highly recommend the book. It is now clear to me that author Alain Paul Martin has distilled the lessons of his extensive field experience to craft a practical framework that has been successfully applied in the private and public sectors.
Apart from the first Chapter, which I skipped, here is my impression about the rest of the book.

Chapter 2 "Building A High-Performing Organization" offers tips on the role of chief intelligence officers, issue managers, intelligence collectors and other scanning resources in an intelligence-centric organization. The section on intelligence culture deserves a greater coverage.

Chapter 3 "Building Intelligence Capital" starts with a brief discussion on scanning but the competitive-intelligence road map is a real gem.

Chapters 4 and 5 on intelligence platforms, search engines and the invisible Web are relevant to a wide range of occupations and activities beyond competitive intelligence. Just by applying the tips in the Brain Stem-Cell Case Study, I got my money and time worth within a week of reading Chapter 4.

Chapter 6 "Intelligence Security in Business and Government" does not provide new material to intelligence experts but is a good primer, filled with examples, for managers.

Chapters 7 and 8 examine the process of opportunity and threat incubation through the lenses of Martin's powerful paradigm. The illustrations suggest that the instrument is already used to capture new markets, and anticipate and manage various risks. The appendix on the Mad-Cow issue in Britain supports the framework and adds credibility to it. It is written by Dr. Brian Morrissey, a veterinary scientist who led government R&D on a host of complex national and global issues related to food and health protection.

The ideas and tools described in both Chapters 9 and 10 are the most advanced I have ever came across on stakeholders' analysis. Chapter 9 offers novel tips to identify the players who can make a difference in managing projects or reaching deals. It also sheds a new light on the role and power dynamics between these players. Chapter 10 helps readers map the positions and perceptions of the stakeholders, a pre-requisite for strategy formulation. Chapter 11 is a basic introduction to psychographics and VALS. Chapter 12 completes the book with concluding remarks about the application of intelligence to our personal lives.

The book is highly recommended to managers and students in military colleges, business and public administration. Chapters 7 through 10 will be of great interest to intelligence analysts who are constantly in search of new ways to connect the dots. I hesitate between a rating of 4 out of 5 stars for expert readers and 5/5 for managers. Actually, the framework alone is worth 5/5 and is without match in the world of competitive intelligence.

Rating:
Summary: Knowledge is power
Review: Knowledge is power. Alain Martin's book is an amazingly thoughtful, astute and down to earth blueprint of what can - and must - be done to tackle the challenge of change in a modern organization. Not only that, it is a practical and logical demonstration of how it should be done. Nowhere else have I found such an enlightening illustration of the nature and power of intelligence. A "must read" for public service decision makers, particularly in the policy, regulatory and law enforcement arenas.

Patrick Hollier

Head, Regulations and Strategies

Enforcement Branch, Environmental Protection Service

Rating:
Summary: Fun to read. Good to grow customer-service sales.
Review: The stories featured in A. P. Martin's Harnessing the Power of Intelligence are fun to read and talk about, at work and at home. I have used some of them to alert my customer-service team about hidden risks and untapped opportunities. We have been applying the ideas of the first six chapters (Part I) for about three months. Our interactions with customers are yielding better results. We are now moving aggressively to prevent tampering with our information assets as noted in the section titled "How Good Organizations Lose Intelligence".
Four of my high-school educated supervisors, who read the book, found Part I a down-to-earth eye-opener, and right on target, for making wiser choices and avoiding costly errors. They, however, thought Part II would be more applicable to middle and senior management. A drawback: the cases in the chapter on Psychographics lack the detail necessary to be useful.
I have also read C. S. Fleisher's Strategic and Competitive Intelligence. Both books represent, in my opinion, two different, credible and complementary approaches to intelligence-based decision-making. Except for some references, there is virtually no duplication of content. A big bonus!