Is The CI Industry In A Rut?

More than 500 CI professionals have gathered in Chicago for the 2009 Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals Annual Conference and Exhibition. On the program are sessions on how to build a CI process, common analytic models, ethics -- the usual fare. Which begs the question, are we in a rut?

Earlier this year, a question was posted to an online competitive intelligence network asking this very question. Few participants in that discussion -- and at an "active dialog" session that I led yesterday at the SCIP09 conference -- could point to any new innovation in our field in the last 20 years.

Does that mean that innovation is not occurring, or that it is occurring but not being shared within the profession? In some sectors -- consumer products, for example -- CI practitioners seem more willing to share their new tools and techniques than others, such as pharmaceuticals. Different industry norms regarding the nature of competition, assumptions about how industry participants operate, and other factors seem to influence the openness of CI innovation.

Still, forums do exist where CI practitioners come together in small groups to learn from each other. Examples include the Conference Board's Competitive Intelligence Council, and the Intelligence Leadership Forum. The existence of these groups, and the experiences of many seasoned CI professionals, suggests that innovation is shared only among small, semi-formal networks, not in large conference sessions. To innovate, then, is to be a superior networker, making personal connections with other practitioners with whom you can share and learn innovative ideas and practices.

Still, after 20+ years, isn't there a need for some new innovation that would benefit the entire CI profession? The answer is yes. The holy grail of CI innovation, I believe, is in determining a method to accurately measure CI's value. Several sessions at this year's conference have addressed this, but the general consensus is that our profession does not have a credible methodology for communicating the quantitative value CI brings to an organization. Whoever can offer such a model will truly advance our profession's innovation.