by Toni Wilson, Cincinnati Chapter, Competitive Intelligence Division

What is, and what is not, competitive intelligence? Practiced correctly, CI accommodates the ability for organizations to be ready for the future, by anticipating changes in the marketplace and avoiding surprises that might blindside our end users and clients, often as they are focused on making decisions and plans based on what the marketplace looks like today.

When we think about our respective marketplaces, we can’t be focused only on how “the game” is played at present. In the future, new competitors will enter the game. They seek to disrupt the way our organizations play the game, so they will move out of turn or invent new moves. Or, the rules of the game itself may change, affecting all of the players. Because of all of this likely change, CI is not really about the competitors themselves, but about keeping our organizations competitive into the future.

Information professionals are uniquely qualified to provide insights regarding the future of our competitive environments because we are chiefly responsible for gathering the facts that indicate change. Fact-gathering is the first step and foundation of every successful CI process, so our role in the process is invaluable. While gathering facts, we see all of the puzzle pieces before anyone else–-sometimes we’re the only ones who see all of the pieces – and can easily put them together to create a picture of the potential future.

A relatable way to explain what CI is, and its value, is by referring to a quote from The Great One, Wayne Gretsky. He often said: “A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be.” We can achieve greatness by helping our end users and clients know where the puck might be going-–what the future competitive environment might look like–-so our organizations can play there, remain competitive, and win the game.
Toni Wilson is the principal consultant at MarketSmart Research Services. She is an experienced competitive intelligence practitioner, having performed hundreds of projects over the past 20+ years, in a variety of industries and throughout the world. Prior to establishing MarketSmart Research in 2000, Toni was a corporate intelligence professional at LexisNexis for more than a dozen years. She is an expert in sources, tools and techniques for intelligence collection, and frequently speaks to groups and coaches individuals regarding the CI process. Toni is a volunteer leader, prolific author, enthusiastic mentor and professional award winner. She is the current chair of SLA’s Competitive Intelligence Division.

by Constance Ard, Answer Maven, Candidate for Chapter Cabinet Chair-Elect

Knowledge Revolution is the 21st Century version of the Industrial Revolution.  Revolutions evolve. Be “Future Ready” by leading the evolution.

Educate the masses and transform them into your advocates.  Every member of society needs to know information professionals are not just checking out books at the circulation counter. In fact they need to understand the capabilities demonstrated by any information professional that deals with all the nuances of running an organization within an organization.

Publicize the impact of quality information in a quantitative manner.  Express the services provided in numbers that reflect the bottom dollar goals of the supporting organization.

1. Apply a number to the services provided with a factor for the information sources costs and the value of the professional.  In my waning days at the law firm I had begun toying with the idea of not only collecting the qualitative values of our services, but exploring methods of the quantitative one.  For instance: Winning Summary Judgment = Research Time + Information Source.
   Disclaimer: There are more factors that must be evaluated to develop an accurate equation.
2. eDiscovery is a growing industry in this knowledge revolution.  The cost of sanctions, the cost of preparation and the cost of production are all factors.  Using those factors we can quantify our value for the information management component in a significant manner. No knowledge organization should ignore the importance of information management or they will not be future ready enough to avoid costly risk.
3. Competitive Intelligence research is conducted to grow a business or define competitive advantages.  Quantifying this work is another way to discuss the value added services of knowledge professionals in a manner that establishes us as the leaders of the transition.

Statistics are important, and they need to be the right statistics.  Being future ready means embracing the science part of information science beyond technology and database design.

Eliminate the notion that information centers are overhead. Use statistics. Quantify the value of the information. Quantify costs: both those you reduce through good management practices and those that are necessary to complete the work of the organization. Every web developer knows that analytics are critical – every information professional should too.

Future ready requires you sell your value.

Information professionals are not just info pros – they are salespeople and marketers. It is our job to educate the knowledge workers who benefit from our knowledge, experience and services to view us as strategic partners who can innovate, create, and contribute to the overall goals of our organizations.  Embrace and excel at this sales job and the revolution is yours to transform.

Constance Ard is an Independent Information Professional with 14 years experience and expert research skills.  Ms. Ard offers on-demand research and information and content management business consulting services specializing in e-discovery preparation and project management.  You can follow her blog at http://www.answermaven.com and find out more about her services at http://www.answermavensolutions.com.

Constance is an active information professional organization volunteer. She served as the Chair of the Legal Division of the Special Libraries Association for 2010 and is a member of the New Member Outreach Committee for AIIP.  She has served in many leadership roles throughout her career.

Ms. Ard’s latest publication “Legal Research in the Age of Open Law” was published in the September 2010 issue of Online.  In October 2009, Ms. Ard completed her first published book: Next Generation Corporate Libraries and Information Services.

by Quincie Rivers, Washington DC Chapter, Knowledge Management Division

InfoCurrent has had a ringside seat watching the library and information science world change over the last few decades. As the Information Management Division of CORESTAFF Services, InfoCurrent has a 40-year history of providing library services to a broad spectrum of business, industry and government clients.

While InfoCurrent continues to place traditional librarians, technicians and clerks, we are constantly being asked to find highly skilled professionals who can manage digital archives, content management systems, web content, digital rights management, taxonomy, e-learning, competitive intelligence and analysis and more.

To be “future ready” in today’s market means more than being proficient in traditional Library Sciences.  It means being futuristic, strategic, and quick to adapt to change. Employers are looking for librarians who are creative, flexible, innovative – who are at ease with technology and understand how that technology can help an organization manage their resources better. Information is key to a business’s growth. Hiring managers expect a librarian to be team oriented, collaborative, people focused. They want and need librarians who can become thought leaders, strategists and innovators.

As companies are exploring ways to recover and expand in the current economic climate, budgets continue to be under strict scrutiny.  Often with limited resources, library services must continue to evolve and become leaner, smarter and faster as the new age of technology and social media transforms our markets.

Organizations and businesses realize that the management of knowledge is a valuable commodity and necessary for growth.  It is not enough, however, just to manage information and provide a service but rather to proactively adopt new technologies and economies of scale.  Businesses who have sought skilled personnel to cost effectively deliver and streamline information now view these individuals in a far less traditional role.

How does one become future ready?  Become innovative and adapt to the evolution of business strategies as it relates to your specific industry.  While the demand for MLIS/MLS professionals remains high, the work environment will be a far less conventional business.  As long as you are flexible and have a curiosity for life-long learning, there will be a place in today’s future ready business world by translating traditional skills and adapting new technologies to their best and highest use.

The day of the back office librarian is vanishing. Professional Librarians are embedded in the teams they service. They are managing virtual researchers and collections, orchestrating the delivery of these valuable resources in whatever form they take. Expect to be part of a team collaboratively working to provide innovative solutions in a dynamic environment.

It’s an exciting time to be a librarian. At InfoCurrent we see the future every day.

InfoCurrent, with offices in Washington, DC, New York City, Boston and Houston, is the Information Management Division of CORESTAFF Services specializing in library and records management services.  InfoCurrent is a full-service, nationwide staffing firm offering temporary, temp-to-hire, direct hire and project management for almost every industry, on projects large and small, and on items from legal documents to art collections.  We keep pace with trends in both Library Sciences and Records Management, sharing best practices to help our clients build faster, nimbler – and smarter – organizations.

by Babette Bensoussan, Director, The MindShifts Group

When I was asked to write on the theme of “What does it mean to be future ready?” I thought no problem. There is so much information out there that it would be an easy blog to write.

After all, today we have more information sources available to us as well as wonderful search capabilities that there really is very little we cannot find out. However, I believe this is where the problem starts.

It got me thinking – as a competitive intelligence practitioner – what does it really mean to be future ready? If I look at this question from a competitive intelligence (CI) perspective then my answer must always suggest options for being future ready.

So what does that mean?

Let me start with the original question itself. What are the assumptions here – are they positive or negative? Does the question relate to individual future readiness or organisational future readiness? What are some critical uncertainties around the future that would impact anyone’s readiness?

I would need to be clear about these factors before I drive through the plethora of information. Otherwise I am like a man with a buoy bobbing up and down in a sea of information and going nowhere.

And talking about the plethora of information…. It is not just the information that is available on the internet or has been published that is important. Rather when it comes to the future, it is important to talk to people. Yes, I know you can ask people on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn for answers however I really wonder how many people would answer an unknown. Most of us are unknown. We don’t have familiar names or great swaths of followers like Ashton Kutcher or Lance Armstrong.

This means we need to go forth and seek answers from people who may have an idea of what any plausible future will look like. From an organisational perspective that could mean talking to academics, journalists, futurists, customers, suppliers, distributors to just name a few. Many of them may not have published their future developments or intentions on the internet for you to find via a single search on Google!

Let’s say I now have all this information and am well informed about possible futures. Does that make me future ready? In my opinion, absolutely not.

I would suggest we need to analyse the information in light of our current situation. This is without a doubt one of the weakest steps as managers and individuals we face. Analysis is the cornerstone for insights yet far too often we see summaries instead!!

As an organisation for example, all the information needs to be analysed in context of the organisation’s capabilities, strengths, weaknesses, etc to identify the gaps it needs to address to be future ready, irrespective of the future that plays out. Some suggested analytical techniques that would help here would be techniques such as Scenario Analysis, Critical Success Factors, Driving Forces Analysis, even SWOT (done properly mind you – not the silly little four boxes!!).

The output of these techniques would identify options, opportunities, and threats that an organisation could address to make itself future ready. This is the real insight.

To be future ready for me is not just about knowing what future may likely play out but about being prepared and alert to meet any future with the best possible advantage. What do you think?

Babette Bensoussan is passionate about CI, is a SCIP Meritorious Recipient and a best selling author. For more information on her work visit http://www.mindshifts.com.au/

by Ellen Naylor, Rocky Mountain Chapter, Competitive Intelligence Division

There has never been more ways to connect and stay in touch 24/7 than today! I predict that this trend will continue. Yet many of these connections, especially through social networks, are shallow. I think they will become deeper as people connect through more relevant social networks such as Quora (www.quora.com) or CI2020 (http://ci2020.com) for competitive intelligence. Also connections are more real-time: witness how quickly news travels through Twitter, and how immediately we can connect with SKYPE video, and for a price SKYPE video teleconferencing.

In our excitement with this technology it’s easy to forget about the individuals behind our connections. The info pro/librarian who understands the motivation of the people s/he serves will excel.

I am a cooperative intelligence practitioner. Through a cooperative attitude and practices, you will be more successful in your business endeavors, and certainly as an info pro. This works since the other person–the one you are serving–feels that you are putting their needs first. You are helping them without strings attached–without expecting “something” in return.

You listen to what they need, ask good questions about why they have this need, and what they will use the information for. You find out how they’re motivated so you can communicate your findings in a way that they can digest, in their language using their analytical tools. You also connect them with the right people to help their cause.

There are two skills that often get overlooked in this information explosion: critical thinking and intuition. With the abundance of information we jump to conclusions with more certainty; yet we don’t test them by standing back and questioning our assumptions in a broader context. Likewise, many of us have lost touch with our intuition, which I consider the barometer of veracity. No amount of information replaces that gut reaction that tells the experienced info pro that something doesn’t feel right or something is missing.

I hope in the future that we become better at cooperative intelligence; retain our ability to stand back and be critical thinkers; and stay true to ourselves by trusting our intuition as the sixth sense of research.

All the best,
Ellen

Ellen Naylor is the owner of The Business Intelligence Source (http://www.thecisource.com). Read more of her insights at http://cooperativeintelligenceblog.com.

by Chad Groenhout, Michigan Chapter, Competitive Intelligence and Information Technology Divisions

I began the library science program at Wayne State in May of 2009 at about the time when SLA leadership and members were contemplating a name change and discussing how to market the profession to employers. I wondered if I was entering a profession in its decline, suffering from an identity crisis that would ultimately leave me unemployed. Yet, as I approach graduation in a few months, I am more hopeful for the future of the profession and I realize I am fortunate that SLA started the process five years ago to rethink the profession of special librarianship. This evolution of the field is what creates new career options such as taxonomists, knowledge managers, embedded librarians, and competitive intelligence analysts. Nearly five years earlier the first inklings of self-reflection were emerging among SLA leadership and membership. What do I hope the next five years will bring?

In 2015 SLA will have emerged from what all great traditions go through, a period of questioning that allows them to adapt to the changing environment and to envision what their role will be in the future. Special librarians will have rebranded themselves to make their skills even more marketable to marketing managers, CI directors, and senior business strategists. In five years, I hope the CI director that Arik Johnson mentioned in his inaugural Future Ready blog post will have already realized that he needed a special librarian. By now, they will be reputed information analysts who are adding value to information by interpreting it, putting it in context, and recommending courses of action to senior management. In five years time, the reference interview will be positioned as a crucial asset that saves businesses money by finding out the right question decision makers should be asking before they spend thousands or millions of dollars seeking an answer to the wrong question. Librarians will still be the guardians and purveyors of information, but they will be in the new role of linking all of the information flows found throughout the organization to strategic business objectives.

In another five years, special librarians will no longer need to justify their existence to senior management, or explain what is “special” about special librarians, or even explain what SLA stands for. Librarians will no longer be seen as functional accessories that can be discarded but as valuable assets who will always be needed to guide the business in the right direction to ensure its survival, being as integral to operations as marketing, finance, and human resources. As a budding professional who will soon enter the job market, I am beginning to worry less about our future and am instead seeing the amazing possibilities for the integral role special librarians will play. For over 100 years, special librarians have sustained a tradition that will only be strengthened in the years to come.

Chad Groenhout is a circulation assistant at Henika District Library and a technical services coordinator at Aquinas College. He graduates in May from the library science program at Wayne State University and is pursuing a career as a competitive intelligence analyst.

by Arik Johnson, Competitive Intelligence Division

At Aurora’s last leadership retreat in October 2010, one of the clients who so generously flew in to help us fine-tune our offerings was sharing how his staff was about to contract dramatically at year-end. This CI (competitive intelligence) director was looking for help identifying ways he was going to replace two key people that were leaving by the end of the year, one by choice, the other by compulsion.

We discussed the specific CI-related activities each of these staff were dedicated to, work such as newsletter preparation and answer-desk support, pre-analytics prep and information acquisition, vendor project management and workforce dissemination. As these two very different position descriptions filled out, I realized that, the work itself had striking similarities with another profession with which I’m becoming familiar these past few years through my association with SLA’s CI Division: Special Librarian, a.k.a., “Info Pro”.

The tasks themselves weren’t as much at issue as the desired outcomes and value these positions were tasked with creating as critical components of the larger CI team. In a nutshell, that amounted to contributing finished, actionable intelligence products that would help build a more holistically savvy workforce and culture of intelligent competitive advantage at a fast-growing, privately-held company where the chief intelligence officer of the company was two steps from the CEO and the rate of change (and uncertainty) continued to grow.

What was my advice?

“You need a librarian,” I said. But I elaborated: not two librarians either; one librarian, a “special librarian” embedded in your CI team, with liaison access to your information center resources to enable you to scale and centralize the research done throughout the rest of the company. Librarians know about all the things I just learned these other two team members do for the company. So, why not consolidate that work in a single individual specially trained for that kind of work. Better yet, there’s an abundance of talent available right now to get this work done.

What’d the client say?

“Hmmm…. You know what I think? I think you’re exactly right.”

Arik Johnson is the founder and chairman of Aurora WDC, where he works with organizations of all kinds to develop their intelligence apparatus to anticipate, monitor, detect and interpret change in their business environment.