What happens to your career when you never have another opportunity to present a report at large meetings?

I’ve been thinking a lot about what the competitive intelligence function, business division, or team will look like in the future. I suppose my motivation for this is to serve both my clients and myself. Forgive me. But after serving in this industry for almost 20 years, I still feel the sands sometimes shift beneath my feet as an intelligence professional.  

Do you? I wonder.  

 I realize that I am not bringing up a topic that others have not explored. However, working with multiple companies at this point gives me unique access, perhaps, to some interesting perspectives. I’ll try to share the challenges I am observing as best I can.  

Let me start by asking a few questions: 

1. Is the competitive intelligence function of today necessary?  
2. If you believe it is essential, where does it fit inside the organization? 
3. As many organizations re-evaluate their structures and resources, what will the intelligence function look like in a post-COVID-19 world?  

 I don’t think COVID-19 is the only thing influencing structural changes in organizations at this time. It is common to see blog posts or other research papers in an attempt to understand the current rate of organizational change. It may be more accurate to say organizations today are merely things that continuously change. Perhaps it is we who have to adjust our thinking of what an organization…is? 

What will the intelligence function look like in the future?

So when we asked the question, “What will the intelligence function look like in the future?” I think we need to consider that it will not be a set thing. It will also be a thing of constant change.  

 If we accept the premise that the future will be different from today, driven by acute change by COVID-19, and by systemic change due to globalism, technology, and societal forces, how do we prepare ourselves? 

How do we prepare ourselves for a future and 

1. Ensure that the intelligence function is necessary (I think it is!)
2. I don’t think there is a perfect place for it inside the organization. I think it is about serving the entire organization, and 
3. CI will change from a division or team to an organizational skill set or capability. This could be fueled by a team, or an IT system, or an outsourced service.    

In the second part of this blog series, I will provide my take on the answers to those questions.  

In the meantime, I will ask you to ponder the following. 

If the CI’s future is a system-based, scalable, organizational approach to providing value, and that may never be able to present a traditional CI report in a large meeting, what will your title be? What will your job be?  

Thanks for joining me on this journey, 

Ed.