Introduction
A few years back, we sent a message
to a number of
our Business or Competitive Intelligence colleagues requesting that
they give
us their opinions on what the “analysis” process is. In the message, we
stated that since the “911” terrorists act, there has been a lot of
discussion concerning the importance of analysis. We indicated that
analysis is important to our government and to people, like us, who
create intelligence. We further stated that we view analysis as a
process
where one engages in many of the following activities, in any order:
observe, classify,
count, compare, ask questions, role play (engage in war games, do
scenarios, use simulation technology, etc.), and take action. We
emphasized
that we consider role playing to be very important in arriving at
the intelligence that's so important to the intelligence user. We then
requested that our
colleagues give us their opinions on the "analysis" process.
A Discussion of the Responses
We sent out approximately 1000 requests for an opinion.
We received
almost
150 responses. Most of the respondents are, or were, involved in
some facet of business information analysis for strategic purposes.
About forty-one percent of the respondents indicated that our
definition
was fine, or they told us, or implied,
that our definition was fine, but needs
some modification.
About thirty-eight percent said or implied that analysis is the use of
some methodology or technique to, first, find relationships between
different pieces of information, and then draw inferences from the
relationships. Some fifteen percent of the respondents said or implied
that analysis is a process where one converts information into
actionable intelligence. And approximately six percent said or implied
that analysis is a process where one asks, or answers, the “So What?”
question.
Some of the your-definition-is-fine-but respondents
said that “take action” shouldn't be part of the analysis process.
They said that “take action” should come after the analysis is
completed. Some of the your-definition-is-fine-but respondents
indicated
that drawing inferences is an important part of analysis. And some of
these respondents felt that synthesizing is an important addition to my
definition.
Other respondents felt that drawing conclusions and
making recommendations were important elements in the analysis
process. Some of the respondents indicated that “purpose” should
be added to my definition. Below are samples from the
your-definition-is-fine-but responses. (Many of the sample responses in
the different categories below are paraphrased.)
Sample Responses for "Your
Definition is Fine, But"
Your definition is fine, but “take action” should be
replaced with
“predicts,” “recommends,” etc.
Your definition is fine, but analysis also includes: forecasting,
visioning, planning, strategizing, challenging data, communicating and
taking action.
Your definition is fine, but it should include, synthesis, determining
usefulness and looking at a competitor’s profiles.
Your definition is fine, but you should add “intuition.”
Your definition is fine, but you should add things
like “interpret” “organize” and “document.” And “take action” should
become “recommendations” or “next steps.”
Your definition is fine, except doing things in a “linear and
nonlinear” way is important. And the activities should give you some
insight into the future.
Your definition is fine, except, establishing objectives is the first
thing one should do.
Your definition is fine. However, pattern recognition should be added.
It helps one find early warnings.
Your definition is fine. Analysis is more of an art than a science.
Analysis is like math. The more you do it, the better you become.
As we indicated above, there are approximately thirty-eight percent of
the respondents who said or implied that analysis is the use of some
methodology or technique to find relationships between different pieces
of information and draw inferences. Below are samples of the comments.
Sample Responses for
Analysis is “The Use of Some
Methodology or Technique”
Analysis is the use of some methodology to dissolve
information to find
trends and patterns.
Analysis is the use of some methodology to identify gaps and
“inconsistencies to find synergies and trends.”
Analysis is the use of some methodology to synthesize quantitative and
qualitative information to find the truth.
Analysis is the use of some methodology to uncover
“insights, implications, and intelligence.”
Analysis is the use of some methodology to decompose a situation or
problem into its components.
Analysis is the use of some methodology to do “pattern recognition.”
Analysis is customer driven, all source, collegial, and actionable.
Analysis is like “doing a jigsaw puzzle.” As you put the pieces
together, you begin to see the big picture, and what's missing.
Analysis is like art. It is “the ability to correlate information
within [a mental] database and come up with tentative conclusions.”
As we stated above, some fifteen percent of the respondents said or
implied that analysis is a process where one “converts information into
actionable intelligence.” Here are some samples.
Sample Responses for
“Converts Information into Actionable
Intelligence”
Analysis is converting data into information.
Analysis is deriving some meaning from data.
Analysis is “The process of taking seemingly unconnected pieces of
information and turning them into intelligence.”
Analysis is turning information into intelligence.
Approximately six percent of the respondents said or implied that
analysis is a process where one asks, or answers, the “So What?”
question. Here are some examples of the responses.
Sample Responses
for
“So
What?”
The analysis process is
asking the question: “So What?”
Analysis is answering the
“So What?” question.
Analysis is looking at
information and determining
what it means and what should be done about it.
Conclusion
We hope
the
above
discussion gives you some idea of
how competitive intelligence
professionals view the
analysis process. While there were responses that could fit into more
than one category, our goal was to put each opinion into one category.
We attempted to extract the essence of an opinion, then categorize the
opinion.
In general, the examples we show above do not represent the fulltext of
a
given comment.
Although some of the
opinions on analysis differed at some level, we found that, for the
most part, there was commonality among the
different opinions. Most business analysis professionals believe that
the goal of business analysis is to come up with intelligence that can
help a company better meet its strategic
objectives.