Analytic Culture in the U.S. Intelligence Community (PDF) - CIA

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CHAPTER TWO Asked to define their profession, the majority of analysts described the process of analysis rather than the actual profession. The question, “What is an intelligence analyst?” resulted most often in a description of the work day and of the production cycle of analytic products and very seldom in an explanation of analytic methodology or a definition of an analyst outside of some specific context. With very few exceptions, analysts did not describe intelligence analysis as its own discipline with its own identity, epistemology, and research tradition. This is not necessarily uncommon. When physicians are asked to describe their profession, they tend to respond with a specific subdiscipline: “I’m a cardio-thoracic surgeon,” for example. When asked for a more general description, however, they tend to respond, “I’m a doctor” or “I’m a physician.” That is, in selective, insular professional cultures, practitioners are able to define their role in both a specific and general fashion. Intelligence analysts had difficulty defining their professional identity in a general way and often relied on specific context to explain what it is that they do and, by extension, who they are. The perception of individual analysts regarding their professional identity was associated most often with their organization’s function or with their own educational background and not with intelligence analysis as its own unique discipline. I work counternarcotics. I work counterterrorism. I’m a military analyst. I’m a leadership analyst. I’m an economist. I’m a political scientist. In addition to these categories, many analysts described their professional identity in terms of intelligence collection methods or categories. I do all-source analysis. I’m a SIGINT analyst. I’m an IMINT analyst. I’m a technical analyst. 17 George Mead was an American pragmatist philosopher and social psychologist, who, with John Dewey, made the University of Chicago the home of pragmatist philosophy and the “Chicago School” of sociology at the end of the 19th century. George Mead, Mind, Self, and Society. 26
FINDINGS The shift in focus to daily analytic products, the changes in the production cycle, and a heterogeneously defined professional discipline have had an additional effect on the professional identity of analysts within the Intelligence Community. Analysts often commented that they perceived their job and their daily work routine as more akin to reporting than to analysis. Basically, on a day-to-day basis, it’s like working at CNN, only we’re CNN with secrets. Actually, it’s more like CNN’s Headline News. Imagine USA Today with spies—bullet points, short paragraphs, the occasional picture. You know, short and simple. I think of myself as a writer for the most important newspaper in the world. Many analysts expressed dissatisfaction with the shift in work processes from long-term forecasts and toward current reporting and the subsequent shift in their own professional identity within the Intelligence Community. The current sentiment about identity was often contrasted against an idealized past that was described as being freer of current production practices and products. About 15 years ago, I would have described myself as a scholar. Now, I’m a reporter. I’ve got 15 people trying to change my work into bullet points. Presumably, nobody has time to read anymore. When I joined, it seemed that the word “analyst” was shorthand for “problem solver.” Now, it’s shorthand for “reporter.” I’m proud of where I work. I’m proud of the job that we do. But, it is hard to take pride in one paragraph. I have to look at the big picture, or I would get discouraged. I spend most of my waking hours doing this, but I still can’t really say what an analyst is. I’m not a reporter, and I’m not an academic. I’m somewhere in between. The heterogeneous descriptions and definitions of intelligence analysis as a professional discipline were consistent findings during this study, indicating that there needs to be a clear articulation and dissemination of the identity and epistemology of intelligence analysis. A clearly defined professional identity would help to promote group cohesion, establish interagency ties and relationships, and reduce intra- and interagency communication barriers by establishing a professional class throughout the Intelligence Community. At an individual level, a clearly defined professional identity helps to reduce job dis- 27
Page 2 and 3: All statements of fact, opinion, or
Page 4 and 5: The Center for the Study of Intelli
Page 6 and 7: ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are literall
Page 8 and 9: CONTENTS Foreword by Gregory F. Tre
Page 10 and 11: Part IV: Notes on Methodology Chapt
Page 12 and 13: as “CNN plus secrets.” Johnston
Page 14 and 15: INTRODUCTION ment, very open and ho
Page 16 and 17: INTRODUCTION is so small and the se
Page 18 and 19: INTRODUCTION gence analysts would u
Page 20 and 21: INTRODUCTION I mention Mead not onl
Page 22 and 23: eth•nog•ra•phy\n [F ethnograp
Page 24 and 25: CHAPTER ONE Definition 1: Intellige
Page 26 and 27: CHAPTER ONE that consumers of intel
Page 28 and 29: CHAPTER ONE During the interviews f
Page 30 and 31: CHAPTER TWO improvement infrastruct
Page 32 and 33: CHAPTER TWO Secrecy vs. Efficacy se
Page 34 and 35: CHAPTER TWO You know, someday someb
Page 36 and 37: CHAPTER TWO Finding: Rewards and In
Page 38 and 39: CHAPTER TWO distinction, for langua
Page 40 and 41: CHAPTER TWO that analysis is not a
Page 42 and 43: CHAPTER TWO described by participan
Page 44 and 45: CHAPTER TWO instead of academic and
Page 48 and 49: CHAPTER TWO satisfaction and anxiet
Page 50 and 51: PART II Ethnography of Analysis 31
Page 52 and 53: CHAPTER THREE A Taxonomy of Intelli
Page 54 and 55: A TAXONOMY OF INTELLIGENCE ing inte
Page 56 and 57: A TAXONOMY OF INTELLIGENCE system t
Page 58 and 59: A TAXONOMY OF INTELLIGENCE cases an
Page 60 and 61: A TAXONOMY OF INTELLIGENCE Comparat
Page 62 and 63: A TAXONOMY OF INTELLIGENCE has on t
Page 64 and 65: CHAPTER FOUR Testing the Intelligen
Page 66 and 67: TESTING THE INTELLIGENCE CYCLE Syst
Page 68 and 69: TESTING THE INTELLIGENCE CYCLE an e
Page 70 and 71: TESTING THE INTELLIGENCE CYCLE rela
Page 72 and 73: TESTING THE INTELLIGENCE CYCLE ucts
Page 74 and 75: TESTING THE INTELLIGENCE CYCLE the
Page 76 and 77: TESTING THE INTELLIGENCE CYCLE shou
Page 78 and 79: CHAPTER FIVE Integrating Methodolog
Page 80 and 81: INTEGRATING METHODOLOGISTS ing ches
Page 82 and 83: INTEGRATING METHODOLOGISTS good as,
Page 84 and 85: INTEGRATING METHODOLOGISTS case sti
Page 86 and 87: INTEGRATING METHODOLOGISTS cal infr
Page 88 and 89: INTEGRATING METHODOLOGISTS Can Tech
Page 90 and 91: INTEGRATING METHODOLOGISTS done to
Page 92 and 93: CHAPTER SIX have different historie
Page 94 and 95: CHAPTER SIX As an observer, I misse
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CHAPTER SIX In contrast, 25 percent
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CHAPTER SIX numerous domain matter
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CHAPTER SIX Quite the contrary, eac
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CHAPTER SIX a practical matter, the
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CHAPTER SEVEN Background The argume
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CHAPTER SEVEN age about 30 percent,
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CHAPTER SEVEN the procedure’s app
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CHAPTER SEVEN includes the ability
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CHAPTER SEVEN advance beyond the co
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CHAPTER EIGHT is the process of lea
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CHAPTER EIGHT often be hired on the
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CHAPTER EIGHT Interestingly, resear
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CHAPTER EIGHT Conclusion and Recomm
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CHAPTER EIGHT research fellowships,
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CHAPTER NINE As the resources avail
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CHAPTER NINE For intelligence analy
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CHAPTER NINE analyses requires sign
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CHAPTER NINE Development and Valida
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CHAPTER NINE agents or agencies of
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CHAPTER TEN Survey Methodology This
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SURVEY METHODOLOGY content and, thu
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SURVEY METHODOLOGY might merely ser
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SURVEY METHODOLOGY group includes a
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CHAPTER ELEVEN Q-Sort Methodology O
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CHAPTER TWELVE The “File-Drawer
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CHAPTER TWELVE 0.15 and for interac
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APPENDIX Jonathan Lockwood and K. L
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APPENDIX Hede Helfrich, “Human Re
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BIBLIOGRAPHY Published Sources Akin
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BIBLIOGRAPHY Camerer, Colin, and Er
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BIBLIOGRAPHY Endsley, M.R. “Desig
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BIBLIOGRAPHY Godson, Roy, ed. Compa
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BIBLIOGRAPHY Jervis, Robert. Percep
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BIBLIOGRAPHY ———, and Barbara
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BIBLIOGRAPHY Miller, George, and Ph
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BIBLIOGRAPHY ———. “The Pros
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BIBLIOGRAPHY Thompson, J. R., R. Ho
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BIBLIOGRAPHY Web resources Buros In
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sealed, world of intelligence. Rob
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