As analysts you are challenged to think out of the box, to find things you never thought of looking for, to create new meanings out of the firehose of information that comes your way.
Improving your critical and creative thinking makes you a better analyst. While Richards Heuer's 1999 book the Psychology of Intelligence Analysis (available at at this link) is still valuable to help you become more aware of how critical thinking works, I think it is too complex and abstract for most of us. Yes, I am being honest. :-) After all, it was published for the CIA... (Nadia Tuominen posted some short videos on LinkedIn explaining Heuer's concepts if you search the hashtag #dickheuersessions - so check that out!)
Nevertheless, you grow as an analyst IF you grow as a thinker. Here is a slide I used in critical thinking presentations:
We are supposed to find the truth as analysts, but our thinking can interfere with that. It is a natural obstacle because we are human.
To overcome the obstacle, perhaps partially, I came up with the below idea of changing ones perspective - patin got another's pair worldview glasses to shift your perspective. The name "perspectacles" is thanks to my good friend, Tom.
Just imagine putting on the glasses of another to expand your thinking. Think as another human looking at the same things you see: an analyst, an officer, the boss, a citizen, a criminal, a victim... but THINK in the place of others!
Think!
Yes Deborah. I see your point. Looking at things through someone else's view point is a great way to grow
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