Tuesday, April 30, 2013

How to Gather Intelligence with a Minimum Budget

Chapter 13 of Sunzi's The Art of War  is about understanding the importance of gathering and exploiting intelligence

To gain that "extraordinary" intelligence advantage, the successful strategists always understood who were their relevant sources and what motivated them.  Some times,  the influential tactics of utilizing money, ideas and compromise do not guarantee a that one could secure the right intelligence. 

The criteria of a situation usually determines whether the projected solution could be quite simple.

Assess, Position and Influence
Rita Williams, the former great TV reporter at KTVU, have always secured her information with the right amount of finesse.  ...  She instinctively assessed her Big Tangible Picture by understanding the mindset of her targeted sources.  

Once Ms. Williams positioned herself with the proper moves and the right implement, the influencing of her targeted resources became easy.

Through her annual practice of baking a very special rum cake, Ms. Williams secured the path of least resistance for acquiring the right information for her stories.

Comments From the Compass Desk
Technology-driven intelligence could only go so far.  Human Intelligence operations work as long as one has already pinpointed the connections that leads to the exact target.  

Every strategic situation is different. The chosen tactical approach is always depended on the circumstances that are behind it.

Securing the intelligence and assessing it properly is one arcane skill.  Building a tangible plan that is based on the intelligence is also an exotic skill . Implementing the plan properly is another arcane skill.  

We do know that there are not many people who have any one of those three given skills.  ... Humorously, there are many people who can describe the requirements of each skills.  

If you ever have a question on how to profile an objective, send us a note.

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