If you'll allow me to indulge a bit, I just want to say that today, I am more physically fit than I ever have been, having just completed a Marine Corps style outdoor boot camp. I performed more push ups, squats and sit ups that I cared to do in one lifetime. Why? Not because a six-foot-tall ex-Marine drill sergeant was yelling at me, but because I decided that my old workout routine wasn't helping me achieve my fitness goals, and that it was time for a change to avoid getting complacent.
Do you rely on the same analytical techniques you have used since college or worse, none at all? Then, it's time to revamp your competitive intelligence "basic training." CI Analysts must constantly look for ways to enhance their skills through different, and more challenging, training. Consider giving your mind a new training regimen that won't involve chin-ups or running but instead a refresher on the basics or an introduction to new tools that will whip it up into the best shape possible, ready for any intelligence challenge that comes your way.
Most of us have experience with some of the core analytical techniques such as Porter's Five Forces analysis. But, what about some of the less popular analysis techniques that provide tremendous value in certain situations? Consider win-loss analysis, a straightforward technique for analyzing what approaches and strategies help your firm win or lose business against competition. Both techniques, and others, can help your company benefit from novel strategic insights that your "tried and true" methods may be failing to deliver.
1 comment:
To be honest, I think the idea of analytic tools is overused. These so-called tools, like 5-Forces, are simply ways to organize and structure the information you have (and to identify gaps), but they don't produce any real analysis. Analysis begins when you've finished using these tools and you work to glean the insights, trends, and implications that the tools hopefully help you see.
The best way that I know to reinvigorate CI skills is to consciously bring new, smart people into your analysis process. CI provides the structure and the discipline for the process, but including others is a great way to stretch your own mind and discover new ways to look at issues.
"The best analytic tools are a few good brains, a whiteboard, and a marker."
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