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i wrote this article for my column (drinking from the fire hose) in Competitive Intelligence Magazine, V8, N4, July/August 2005 - published by the Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals (www.scip.org)…it’s a little choppy, ’cause it came from a much larger presentation at the scip conference, but i still think that it will make sense to non-scip folks as well as folks new to collection processes and mechanics;

Understanding Human Sources
I not only use all the brains that I have, but all that I can borrow. Woodrow Wilson

At the SCIP 2005 Annual Conference in Boston (where the grass is green and the girls are pretty), I presented a workshop on human capital research geared toward both new SCIP members as well as those new to the subject of getting information from human beings. What follows is an exercise in turning an hour of overhead-driven dialogue into 2 thousand words of printable text, a formidable challenge for a Blarney-stone kisser like me.

The subject of source management and mapping is paramount within the framework of our revered competitive intelligence cycle - which is just a rather heady way to say, this matters a lot to people who have to get the work done.For those new to CI, this column refers to sources within the world of gathering information from human beings directly. Some refer to this as primary research, elicitation or interviewing. While those particular terms differ, sources are always about the same thing: they are the people at different places working on, around or near the things or people that matter to you or your client.

Great research is all about great sources. Understanding, discovering, engaging and managing sources effectively is the most daunting of all steps in the intelligence cycle.

Those of us who interact with sources regularly already know that when the focus is gathering or eliciting sensitive information, sources are most often mid-level managers or employees close enough to the action to understand the detail, but senior level enough to grasp big picture issues, with a knowledge of -or connection to other relevant sources to support your project goals. Consider here that all sources fall into one of four general categories:

1. Employees: Internal and External
Typically an employee as a source works for a direct and/or relevant competitor of you or your client. Most employees tend to be internal (working on-site), though office life has changed quite a bit over the past decade, leaving many employees to share mobile office spaces or work remotely. An external employee is one not situated within a physical corporate office, such as a telecommuter.

Employees as sources might also include your internal peers. For example, it is common practice (and a nice idea) to interview new and recent hires within your firm where such individuals hail from competitors. These individuals, where not bound by non disclosure agreements, areoften willing to discuss individual contacts, make personal introductions, and generally support the interests of their new employers.

1a. Employees an addendum regarding likely Transients
One major area of personal interest when targeting employees is tofocus on likely transients. These are the individuals who might be voted least likely to be loyal to the organization, even where such folks adhere to company policy. Some might immediately imagine the mercenary functions, the sales folks who change jobs frequently, or the consultants and marketeers who work in isolation.

However, there is also one major pocket of business activity that generates likely transients: corporate development. This is like finding the alum before they have moved on or even considered a job change - while theyre still (emotionally) coming to terms with such a possibility or inevitability. In many cases, acquired and/or recently re-badged employees are not quite as steep in cultural indoctrination, but are often deep enough in the organization to have a clear picture of what matters, who matters and whats going on around them. To some, this might sound like the consulting equivalent of dating a woman who has filed for divorce but still lives with her future ex-husband.

2. Partners: Intimate or Removed
Partners as a group consists of all individuals and firms working with any organization, including yours, a competitors or another relevant group. Such partners might be thought of as either intimate or removed, though thereis room for interpretation. As explained below, in certain organizations, a removed partner such as a recruiting firm might in fact prove to be quite in the know. You will need to assess the value of partners within the context of your own research to make such determinations.

Examples of intimately involved partners include:vendors and distribution channel relationships, such as resellers, integrators and so on; collaborators in the areas of marketing or development, for example supporting product creation or industry standards. Intimate partners might also include many other areas of service and support, such as marketing and communications providers, management consulting firms, corporate finance and advisory related partners (e.g. M&A advisors), corporate accounting firms, contract labor providers and so on.

Removed partners are seldom entrenched deeply enough to hold intimate knowledge regarding the activities of most organizations, though often possess remarkable and varying degrees of insight pertaining to internal contacts and processes. Examples of such removed partners include leasing agents, payroll vendors or other administrative services (outsourced), banking partners, assorted recruiting firms or temporary staffing providers, along with a wide assortment of additional service providers, from facilities maintenance and corporate catering to outsourced production and fulfillment partners.

3. Spectators: the Analysts, Journalists, Pundits and Watchdogs
When executing research which requires planning of any sort (yes, that sounds absurd…it all requires planning), it is always helpful to imagine that somebody else already knows the answer to your questions(regardless of question). The goal of a great researcher is figure out who that individual might be by asking ones self, who cares about this subject? Beyond those categories discussed above, it is quite often the industry Analysts, Journalists and many Pundits watching and following marketplace activity who possess the greatest degree of current knowledge. At another level, it might extend to government or regulatory figures who make it their business to watch over the activities of the public and private sector across all industries, from manufacturing and agriculture to pharmaceuticaland financial services (the watchdogs).

If you require a debriefing of any kind regarding a research project due to lack of comprehension of a process, technology, industry or somethingelse, consider these sources first. These are often the most prolific writers within their respective categories and niches, and more often than not, the most talkative folks around, and quite likely to take delight in educating a novice or outsider in the ways of their world.

Additionally, these spectators often become assets (high-value, long term relationships). Building and maintaining rapport with the folks who live and breathe the market is critical to your development as a researcher. Spectators tend to manage the most colorful rolodexes in the world, and the ability to generate contacts and information through such human assets will impact the reach of many future endeavors.

Spectators might also be thought of as intimate or removed. For example, many analysts and pundits follow closely the activities of a handful of several leading organizations while minding the market in general. In such cases and equity research analysts are a perfect example spectators are frequently engaged in high level and detailed discussions with key employees of such organizations.

Alternatively, many spectators are looking at the activities of so many market players that they rarely have profound insight into the activities of any one particular firm or group of firms. An example of this might be a writer or columnist who can turnyou on to sources within a company based on a recent article, but will not be able to tell you much about how that company stacks up beyond a product or market review.

When it comes to those government and regulatory types mentioned earlier, there are also many specialty faux-official groups organized around special interests like ethics, labor market issues, corporate governance, and so on. These quasi-official hoi polloi make it their business to keep tabs on everything from CEO pay to eyeliner testing on animals. Within government, there are also innumerable appointed administrators and policy related figures with keen insight into the issues touching any particular target or industry.

4. Alumnae: All prior Categories
Alumnae are, for all intents and purposes, the people who used to do whatever I was just talking about above, but specifically with a former organization. This extends to capture former spectators, such as the analyst who joined the ranks of a corporation, or the former columnist or government figure that joined a department at an industry player and so on.

The highest value alum are often those most recently involved with the organization to which they are attached, or by which they are identified (e.g. a columnist who just switched papers but covered your target organization). Alternatively, very high value alum might also be thoseassociated with a very specific time period, such as an employee who was around during a major acquisition of interest, or during the tenure of some other individuals of interest.

About those unusual Sources…
This is yet one other category of source to consider, and it is arguably the most difficult to describe because when unusual sources exist, they arrive via serendipity. And quite often, fact checking will determine that any unusual source in fact falls into one of the earlier categories. A great example is a photograph of a targeted source standing beside several folks, perhaps shot at a conference or a local fundraiser, and appearing in print formats like newspaper or magazine. Understanding the potential value of the bystanders as sources, coupled with the ability to actually track them down using minimal detail (e.g. names in a caption), well, thats the real puzzle. These are best thought of as the random leads, not clearly identifiable but somehow connected to a targeted source, and perhaps in the know.

For readers involved with competitive intelligence in a corporate setting, it is somewhat unlikely that you will ever begin reaching out directly to employees of competitors; thats an impropriety. To the vendors and consultants supporting such corporate needs, this is a familiar theme. However, I urge all corporate CI practitioners to spend time getting your arms around the types of sources thathold greatest value for your own needs.

Understanding the foundation of the source mapping exercises deployed within any intelligence project can only help to better prepare for project execution. Such preparation will in turn allow for you to communicate realistic project expectations to all project stakeholders, setting the stage for a show that begs for an encore.
In the end, we are only as good as our sources. Oh, and we must always remember that getting information through other human beings is, by its nature, a best-efforts process that is forever in want of guarantees.

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