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Although this book was co-authored by Peter Earnest and Maryann Karinch, Earnest serves as narrator as he draws upon a wealth of experience during 36 years with the Central Intelligence Agency, most of it in the Agency's National Clandestine Service (NCS). He also served on active duty with the United States Marines. Presumably Karinch's role was to assist with gathering, evaluating, selecting, and then organizing the real-world information on which the book is based. At least to some extent, the co-authors' collaborative efforts resemble those who work together in NCS and, in fact, they resemble the collaborative efforts in any other organization with strategic objectives such as these:
1. Identifying information needs
2. Determining their relative importance
3. Locating and obtaining the information needed
4. Evaluating, correlating, integrating, and disseminating it
5. Revising and updating the information as well as the system within which it is processed
At the conclusion of Chapters 2-12, Earnest and Karinch provide a summary of key points, framed in different ways: as a question (the "right qualities" of an effective case officer in Chapter 2), as checklists ("Twin Necessities: Continuing Training and Education" in Chapter 4), or as recommendations ("Deliberately Shaping Your Image" in Chapter 9). In fact, throughout the book the reader is provided with dozens of such devices that will facilitate, indeed accelerate periodic review of key points later.
Large organizations already have extensive resources committed to achieve the aforementioned strategic objectives. This book will help them to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of their systems and initiatives. The material in Chapter 3,for example, will help to recruit better candidates, interview them more thoroughly, and then get them off to a faster start once in place.
That said, leaders in all organizations (whatever their size and nature may be) will receive valuable information, insights, and advice that can help them to formulate and then implement programs, procedures, and policies to strengthen organizational core competencies in areas such as situation analysis, decision-making, setting (and adjusting) priorities, research on competitive marketplace (i.e. identifying unmet needs, eliminating vulnerabilities, leveraging advantages), contingency planning (e.g. scenarios), crisis management, and leadership development.
One final point: With all due respect to knowing what needs to be done as well as knowing how and when to do it, ultimate success depends on execution. Thomas Edison said it best: "Vision without execution is hallucination." This is what Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert I. Sutton have in mind when warning executives about what they characterize as "the knowing-doing gap."
Click Here to see more reviews about: Business Confidential: Lessons for Corporate Success from Inside the CIA
Acritical figure in America's Cold War intelligence operations, Peter Earnest knows human nature and how to set priorities to stay true to a mission. With this book, Earnest and bestselling author Maryann Karinch demonstrate how core principles of intelligence apply directly to business strategy. Trust building, loyalty, innovative thinking, using intelligence to support tough decision making, getting the most from human resources all are linchpins of critical business strategy, indispensable to: Vetting, hiring, and training the ideal team Establishing connections with the right people Contingency planning Operating in both friendly and hostile territory Cutting losses at the right time while increasing the overall win ratio With instructive examples from CIA operations and the business world, Business Confidential vividly illustrates the value of the intelligence mindset in today's unpredictable business landscape.
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