Apr 15, 2021
Security, Risk Management and Intelligence professionals all
know of Jim Clapper. He had a long and distinguished career in the
US Air Force, which included leadership spanning the Vietnam era
all the way to the end of the Cold War. By the time he retired he
was a three star General, leading the Director of the Defense
Intelligence Agency. After retirement he would later return to
government service as head of the National Imagery and Mapping
Agency just three days after 9/11. In 2007 he was named the
Pentagon’s top intelligence official (USDI), serving as an
appointee in both the Bush and Obama administrations before
President Obama appointed him DNI. He is author of the book
“Facts and Fears: Hard truths from a life in intelligence.”
In this OODAcast we sought to extract lessons from General
Clapper’s career relevant to intelligence professionals in and out
of government. We get behind the scenes looks at the sometimes
frustrating situations he was placed in early in his career and
lessons that flowed from frustrations, including anecdotes that
drive home the reality of what intelligence is supposed to be.
Intelligence professionals in and out of government will hear first
hand the dangerous temptations put on intelligence professionals to
do what is easy and why the easy path can lead to irrelevance. Ever
heard of a “self-licking ice cream cone?” We explore the caution of
that phrase, which is a warning to not just produce intelligence
for intelligence sake. Intelligence must be produced for a purpose
and disseminated to those who need it. We also examine the tendency
of some in the intelligence community to want to be historians,
focused on exploring what happened instead of what will happen
next. Reputation of military intelligence cultures are also
examined.
We examine cyber intelligence, and the perception of some that
the intelligence community is falling into the trap of just being
historians there. But we also dive into what can be done to change
this situation including changes in legislation and funding and
prioritization.
Whether you are in commercial business intelligence or the
government intelligence community there are lessons for you from
the successful Osama Bin Laden raid of 2 May 2011 and we examine
some of them in this OODAcast. If you are in the commercial sector
and do not run your own operational military units you may be
wondering what these lessons are. As you will find in the video,
the success was based on being proactive about intelligence. Making
assessments, seeking information, validating or refuting
hypotheses, making new assessments and continually hunting for the
right data. This success focused approach is required in any
successful intelligence effort.
We ask for insights and tips on how to provide intelligence to
incredibly busy decision makers. Cut away the fluff, he says, know
what two or three points to make, make them, and stop. This can be
hard, it is almost always easiest to drone on. But investing in
making points succinctly and clearly are key.
General Clapper’s management and leadership style reflects a
belief that people should be treated with respect, and in most
professional situations you should assume you are interacting with
people that are competent and are set on doing the right thing,
unless you get information that indicates otherwise. This approach
comes with some risks but has helped bring out the best in teams he
has led. We talk about this and many other leadership lessons
including an example where his mother demonstrated to him an
enduring lesson about bravery and an ability to take action at the
moment needed to do the right thing. This happened in 1952 at
Chitose Air Force base in Japan, and young Jim Clapper was at the
Officer’s club with his parents. Watching how his mother
proactively worked to demonstrate that all races are welcome at her
table left a mark on him he explains well in this discussion. This
story is the kind of thing they make movies about, and is well
worth hearing and reflecting on today.
We also talk about operational intelligence, and get an
excellent briefing from General Clapper on the dynamics in the
geopolitical situation with China and Russia.
Additional Resources in and references on
Intelligence:
A Practitioner’s View of Corporate Intelligence: Organizations
in competitive environments should continually look for ways to
gain advantage over their competitors. The ability of a business to
learn and translate that learning into action, at speeds faster
than others, is one of the most important competitive advantages
you can have. This fact of business life is why the model of
success in Air to Air combat articulated by former Air Force
fighter pilot John Boyd, the Observe – Orient – Decide – Act (OODA)
decision loop, is so relevant in business decision-making
today.
Useful Standards For Corporate Intelligence: Discusses
standards in intelligence, a topic that can improve the quality of
all corporate intelligence efforts and do so while reducing
ambiguity in the information used to drive decisions and enhancing
the ability of corporations to defend their most critical
information.
Optimizing Corporate Intelligence: Actionable recommendation on
ways to optimize a corporate intelligence effort. It is based on a
career serving large scale analytical efforts in the US
Intelligence Community and in applying principles of intelligence
in corporate America.
An Executive’s Guide To Cognitive Bias in Decision Making:
Cognitive Bias and the errors in judgement they produce are seen in
every aspect of human decision-making, including in the business
world. Companies that have a better understanding of these
cognitive biases can optimize decision making at all levels of the
organization, leading to better performance in the market.
Companies that ignore the impact these biases have on corporate
decision-making put themselves at unnecessary risk.
Global Risks and Geopolitical Sensemaking: A collection of
critical resources for any organization seeking to track, and
mitigate risks due to international geopolitics events and
actions.
