The winning CI process – State of the Art 2016

Dispelling myths and

misconceptions about what a powerful CI process looks like

Dr. Ben Gilad

www.academyci.com

Mistake # 1: True or False? Competitive intelligence is information or facts about competitors and the more, the better.

It is NOT.

Answer: False!

Information in itself has no value. A lot of data are just noise (especially today). Competitors’ minutiae matter little.

Mistake # 2: True or False? Effective CI programs must be formalized, must grow headcount, gain more

resources, and measure their ROI by outputs.

Answer: False!

Most effective CI programs

• Affect management thinking via few effective organizational design steps

• Can never be measured directly (it’s not about productivity)

• Work by continuous dialogue but only with most relevant users

• “Lone Rangers” or very small staff (3-4 for entire organization) in the right place

Mistake # 3: True of False? The CI process must first answer all management questions

Answer: Double false!

This is the surest way to get the ax!

Gilad’s Organizational CI Model: lessons from the last 30 years of practice

• Always start from the real use. Never focus on producing more.

• Follow closely Jack Welch’s strategy making process. You fail here and CI will be useless.

Biggest mistake that will cost you your job: When you bring production mindset to a usage-based environment, you play the wrong game!

The real distinction between a failing and an effective CI process

Failing CI Real CI

Core Information Insight

MOA Answering

questions

SEW- identifying

opportunities and

threats early on

Role “Good to know” Affect thinking –

improve decisions-

boost performance

Characteristics Accuracy, details Perspective

Assumption More is better Less is a blessing

Challenge Time/”projects”

management

Filtering noise

For more details, contact the author at

www.academyci.com or www.giladwargames.com