Comments on: I AM NOT A SPY http://compete.wordpress.com/2008/06/23/i-am-not-a-spy/ Competitive Intelligence navel-gazing from Technology-land Fri, 09 Jan 2009 21:20:10 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: Adrian Alvarez http://compete.wordpress.com/2008/06/23/i-am-not-a-spy/#comment-510 Adrian Alvarez Sat, 28 Jun 2008 05:51:42 +0000 http://compete.wordpress.com/2008/06/23/i-am-not-a-spy/#comment-510 Hi Dan, I want to congratulate for your presentation. It is fun and very clear. Fortunately, we do not have this problem here in Argentina (there are some problems in Brazil though). Because so far the word intelligence, to most people, is not related to espionage, maybe because it is too nascent. The problem we have is that the intelligence is more related with being smart (being smart is written inteligente either in Spanish or Portuguese). Therefore, some people make fun of this or take us as nerds.. I do not know what is worse... The second problem we have is that nobody knows what CI is.. But this is easier because you can frame the definition towards what it really is and you do not need to keep telling the difference with espionage. Best regards, Adrian Alvarez www.midasconsulting.com.ar http://inteligenciacompetitivaenar.blogspot.com/ Hi Dan,

I want to congratulate for your presentation. It is fun and very clear.

Fortunately, we do not have this problem here in Argentina (there are some problems in Brazil though). Because so far the word intelligence, to most people, is not related to espionage, maybe because it is too nascent.

The problem we have is that the intelligence is more related with being smart (being smart is written inteligente either in Spanish or Portuguese). Therefore, some people make fun of this or take us as nerds.. I do not know what is worse…

The second problem we have is that nobody knows what CI is.. But this is easier because you can frame the definition towards what it really is and you do not need to keep telling the difference with espionage.

Best regards,

Adrian Alvarez
http://www.midasconsulting.com.ar
http://inteligenciacompetitivaenar.blogspot.com/

]]> By: Richard McEachin http://compete.wordpress.com/2008/06/23/i-am-not-a-spy/#comment-508 Richard McEachin Tue, 24 Jun 2008 18:55:36 +0000 http://compete.wordpress.com/2008/06/23/i-am-not-a-spy/#comment-508 I've written in the past about making the inane connection of CI to economic espionage by people who do not understand how CI is performed in different parts of the world. It's difficult to get people to see that the methods of CI are a matter of culture, ethics and law. Richard McEachin www.ConfidentialResource.com I’ve written in the past about making the inane connection of CI to economic espionage by people who do not understand how CI is performed in different parts of the world. It’s difficult to get people to see that the methods of CI are a matter of culture, ethics and law.

Richard McEachin
http://www.ConfidentialResource.com

]]> By: Dan McHugh http://compete.wordpress.com/2008/06/23/i-am-not-a-spy/#comment-507 Dan McHugh Tue, 24 Jun 2008 07:23:23 +0000 http://compete.wordpress.com/2008/06/23/i-am-not-a-spy/#comment-507 Michael, your point is a very valid one and I thought long and hard about whether we needed any more "noise" out in the ether about this CI hobby-horse. I think part of the reason procurement doesn't need to explain who they are and what they do is because people don't normally meet someone in procurement, find out they are in procurement and then decide to change their behavior radically, based on that knowledge. The number of times people (after being handed my card, or introduced) have either a) flat out asked me if I'm gathering information on their company at the time. b) started to lock up and not really talk about their business or if they do, in very broad terms. c) Asked me if it's all cloak and daggers (it's not and I get sick of telling people). Yes, it gets frustrating, but I think as a profession we can move past it. There is a difference between stealing information and having a very narrow focus on doing damage to a competitor's business. I think we sometimes miss that point, but certain flavors of CI are focused on winning, gathering intelligence (from legitimate sources) and focusing that on hurting another company. People know that and that's what gets them cagey and for CI to fall victim to it's own brand of FUD. I, like you would love to see this problem go away. Michael, your point is a very valid one and I thought long and hard about whether we needed any more “noise” out in the ether about this CI hobby-horse.

I think part of the reason procurement doesn’t need to explain who they are and what they do is because people don’t normally meet someone in procurement, find out they are in procurement and then decide to change their behavior radically, based on that knowledge.

The number of times people (after being handed my card, or introduced) have either
a) flat out asked me if I’m gathering information on their company at the time.
b) started to lock up and not really talk about their business or if they do, in very broad terms.
c) Asked me if it’s all cloak and daggers (it’s not and I get sick of telling people).

Yes, it gets frustrating, but I think as a profession we can move past it. There is a difference between stealing information and having a very narrow focus on doing damage to a competitor’s business. I think we sometimes miss that point, but certain flavors of CI are focused on winning, gathering intelligence (from legitimate sources) and focusing that on hurting another company. People know that and that’s what gets them cagey and for CI to fall victim to it’s own brand of FUD.

I, like you would love to see this problem go away.

]]> By: Michael Neugarten http://compete.wordpress.com/2008/06/23/i-am-not-a-spy/#comment-506 Michael Neugarten Tue, 24 Jun 2008 06:26:27 +0000 http://compete.wordpress.com/2008/06/23/i-am-not-a-spy/#comment-506 This is an intelligent (and eye-catching) presentation. But if I see another presentation or paper that talks of CI not being spying, I shall scream. People working in procurement do not begin every lecture and paper by explaining that one way of procuring raw materials is to steal them. So why are CI professionals always be explaining what it is they DON'T do... Please, please let's get beyond that. Regards Michael This is an intelligent (and eye-catching) presentation.

But if I see another presentation or paper that talks of CI not being spying, I shall scream.

People working in procurement do not begin every lecture and paper by explaining that one way of procuring raw materials is to steal them. So why are CI professionals always be explaining what it is they DON’T do…

Please, please let’s get beyond that.

Regards

Michael

]]> By: Dan McHugh http://compete.wordpress.com/2008/06/23/i-am-not-a-spy/#comment-504 Dan McHugh Tue, 24 Jun 2008 00:12:34 +0000 http://compete.wordpress.com/2008/06/23/i-am-not-a-spy/#comment-504 Thanks for the kind words Richard. I agree there is a bit of mystique surrounding CI professionals and sometimes that works in your favor and other times not. I think for our profession as a whole we need to focus on documenting those ROIs to help move us out of reactionary and data-processing-filtering roles and into a very proactive (or offensive) form of CI. Seeking out opportunities, rather than defending or trying to find FUD points. Thanks for the kind words Richard. I agree there is a bit of mystique surrounding CI professionals and sometimes that works in your favor and other times not. I think for our profession as a whole we need to focus on documenting those ROIs to help move us out of reactionary and data-processing-filtering roles and into a very proactive (or offensive) form of CI. Seeking out opportunities, rather than defending or trying to find FUD points.

]]> By: Richard McEachin http://compete.wordpress.com/2008/06/23/i-am-not-a-spy/#comment-503 Richard McEachin Mon, 23 Jun 2008 19:35:17 +0000 http://compete.wordpress.com/2008/06/23/i-am-not-a-spy/#comment-503 This is a wonderful presentation for anybody that thinks the intelligence business is glamorous and glorious. In reality, it is hard work, education, and determination that makes one successful. This is a self-elected elite. We live to work and get happiness as a by-product. The leaders we serve may get some measure of public acclaim and that is satisfaction enough for us. In the private sector, the ROI on Competitive Intelligence (CI) efforts far exceeds that of R&D. We only have to "win" now and again to yield a high ROI. That is the "high" we get from doing CI. (And the occasional bonus cheque doesn't hurt either.) Richard McEachin www.ConfidentialResource.com This is a wonderful presentation for anybody that thinks the intelligence business is glamorous and glorious. In reality, it is hard work, education, and determination that makes one successful. This is a self-elected elite. We live to work and get happiness as a by-product. The leaders we serve may get some measure of public acclaim and that is satisfaction enough for us.

In the private sector, the ROI on Competitive Intelligence (CI) efforts far exceeds that of R&D. We only have to “win” now and again to yield a high ROI. That is the “high” we get from doing CI. (And the occasional bonus cheque doesn’t hurt either.)

Richard McEachin
http://www.ConfidentialResource.com

]]> By: Dan McHugh http://compete.wordpress.com/2008/06/23/i-am-not-a-spy/#comment-502 Dan McHugh Mon, 23 Jun 2008 05:32:11 +0000 http://compete.wordpress.com/2008/06/23/i-am-not-a-spy/#comment-502 Thanks Arun, I actually searched high and low and went through that suggestion you mentioned. I could be my browser is playing up (we use a lot of dogfood inside Microsoft). I'll definitely be giving SlideShare another chance as I do like the simplicity and UI of the site. Thanks for featuring my deck on your homepage. I'm honoured :) Dan Thanks Arun,

I actually searched high and low and went through that suggestion you mentioned. I could be my browser is playing up (we use a lot of dogfood inside Microsoft). I’ll definitely be giving SlideShare another chance as I do like the simplicity and UI of the site.

Thanks for featuring my deck on your homepage. I’m honoured :)

Dan

]]> By: Arun http://compete.wordpress.com/2008/06/23/i-am-not-a-spy/#comment-501 Arun Mon, 23 Jun 2008 05:26:09 +0000 http://compete.wordpress.com/2008/06/23/i-am-not-a-spy/#comment-501 Hi Dan, This is Arun from SlideShare. It could be that "Visual Editor" is turned on in Wordpress - this often strips embed codes and creates problems while embedding. If you do run into issues, just let us know through the feedback page. You could even yell out on Twitter and we'll make sure your issue is resolved. :) ( http://twitter.com/simplyarun ) The SlideShare editorial team has featured your presentation on the homepage. We find it really creative! You could sign-up for an account - it gives you a lot more features than a guest account. Cheers Arun Hi Dan,

This is Arun from SlideShare.

It could be that “Visual Editor” is turned on in WordPress – this often strips embed codes and creates problems while embedding. If you do run into issues, just let us know through the feedback page. You could even yell out on Twitter and we’ll make sure your issue is resolved. :) ( http://twitter.com/simplyarun )

The SlideShare editorial team has featured your presentation on the homepage. We find it really creative! You could sign-up for an account – it gives you a lot more features than a guest account.

Cheers
Arun

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