In my 25 years as a marketing professional focusing on competitive intelligence, I have noticed that the focus for information collection is increasingly swinging towards secondary sources, and often neglects the relationships we must forge with individuals to ultimately be successful. While there is unquestionably more information available on the Internet and social media, we still need people to help us, if for no other reason than to ascertain that the information we are providing is timely and accurate.
Another reason we need people more than ever is that clients, whether internal company clients or consulting clients, perceive that they can get basic information off the Internet and/or your company's intranet - albeit not as expediently as information professionals. Since clients do have some electronic searching skill, we need to present our findings using relevant analytical tools, make recommendations, uncover business opportunities or prevent them from investing in markets or products that are losers. You almost always need people's cooperation to develop and organise analysis, make recommendations and suggest appropriate investments with confidence.
This is where Cooperative Intelligence enters the picture. It is the process of developing your networks by finding ways to help others. You are helped because you help others: no strings attached. Instead of focusing on self-interest, you are seeking the common good. Donna Fisher and Sandy Vilas, co-authors of 'Power Networking', remark on the boomerang effect when help arrives without explicit requests.
Cooperative Intelligence puts people in the centre. Its foundation is giving attitudes and practices which encourage openness, sharing and trust. Trust begins with communication, telling the truth, and doing what is good for people and the organisation. When people trust you, they often will do what you ask them to do since they want to.
Leadership, connection and communication are integrated in the practice of cooperative intelligence. Cooperative Intelligence is relationship building one person at a time. You can have the most effective collection processes in place, and be the most intelligent, analytical and insightful information professional, but if your clients don't believe, trust and respect you, you won't have staying power.
Leadership
Cooperative leaders are not full of ego and pushing their own agendas. They look for indications and welcome intelligence from all the sources available both inside and outside the company. Your clients know that you will listen to them, share information and make recommendations to improve the company's competitive position.
We can't control other's attitudes towards us: however, we can control our own attitudes and behaviours. Our attitude sets the tone, regardless of the other person's motivation, position or personal issues. Cooperative leaders project a positive attitude as one who provides a valuable service, intellectual capital and great connections. How often do you hire an information professional who has no connections in your industry? When I hire an information professional, I am favourably impressed if they belong to AIIP and/or SLA, since those are the groups where information professionals can develop and share their expertise.
Cooperative leaders also take into account emotional intelligence and appreciative inquiry practices, which make us more balanced advisors. Emotional intelligence is the ability to sense, understand, and effectively apply the power of emotions to facilitate high levels of collaboration and productivity. (Coopers & Sawaf, 1998) Today, emotional intelligence has become associated with the information economy and is the key attribute for effective management and leadership in the world's leading economies. IQ is no longer sufficient to lead successful companies in the 21st century.
For example in win/loss interviews, some companies just focus on knowledge obtained through loss interviews. This is unbalanced and negative, as they lose out on what they might learn by interviewing customers when they win significant business, which might give them some great ideas for product development or who might agree to be a customer testimonial. While loss interviews can be insightful, you've lost their business: how long will it take you regain it, if ever?
Wouldn't Sales respond better to the appreciative inquiry, positive approach of, "How can we improve market penetration in this industry?" versus the more critical approach often taken, "We're losing market share in this industry: what are we doing wrong?"
Connection
A cooperative connector is altruistic: consider and ask how you can help someone, and you will make a positive and lasting impression. Recognise that achieving your goals and fulfilling your missions depends as much on social capital as it does on your human capital: knowledge, expertise and experience. Cooperative connectors realise that everyone they connect with becomes part of their network and every stranger has the potential to become an important connection.
When people feel that you care, their stress is reduced and they will contribute more to your combined projects. One of the key findings in knowledge management (KM) is that people share their knowledge only when they feel cared for and when they care for the organisation. It is not new technology that entices people to exchange data: it's the quality of the human relationship. In her book, 'Finding Our Way: Leadership for an Uncertain Time', noted management expert, Margaret Wheatley suggests that KM should be re-named 'human knowledge' to remind us where knowledge comes from.
Information professionals are always making connections as we conduct our data gathering through secondary research, social networks and primary research (humint - a.k.a. human intelligence gathering
). I like to think of this as our connection continuum.
As we gather information through one means, we seek connections in another. For example, when I finish a few humint interviews, I'll often revisit LinkedIn or Twitter and find some more people to talk to. I may review my secondary research findings in a new light, which may bring up additional issues to query from my sources.
As I conduct my research, I often share some of my findings to those I am interviewing which often cause them to open up in ways that surprise me! I apply cooperative intelligence practices with my LinkedIn and Twitter connections. I have helped some LinkedIn folks find work and answered questions under the Q&A in LinkedIn Groups. I will re-tweet (that is, repeat) a person's message to help extend his/her marketing reach, even if s/he is my competitor. I think it's better to come from a place of sharing and generosity. I notice many people re-tweet my Tweets, especially my blog posts, and I think this is just how cooperative connection works.
Communication
Never in the history of mankind has it been so easy to communicate 24/7. Never have we had so many choices about how or when to communicate. In today's depersonalised workforce, we witness the replacement of face to face meetings with teleconferencing and webinars as well as telephone conversations with electronic communication in its many forms, which can lead to miscommunication.
Never have clear writing skills been so essential to conducting business. We need to be better writers even to make initial connections with people. Electronic communication can be challenging for those who were not brought up with it, and there is a wide disparity in the quality of electronic communication and much misunderstanding since we are just relying on the written word. How about expressing yourself effectively in 140 characters, which is the length of a Twitter tweet?
Cooperative communicators learn the preferred form of communication for the various deliverables we disseminate to people in our network. In addition, cooperative communicators are sensitive as to when electronic communication isn't enough, and it's time to pick up the telephone or meet in person. In a face to face meeting, we can read people's body language and listen to their tone, impossible in electronic communication. We also get immediate feedback.
Cooperative communicators are active listeners who listen with their eyes, ears and emotions. They observe body language, tune into the tone of voice as well as feelings and intent. Cooperative communicators don't judge the person they're interviewing, but listen with an open mind.
Good listening differentiates you from almost any other person with whom people in your network communicate. Cooperative communicators know when people realise that you are really listening to them without bias - regardless of behaviour style and motivation - they will respect you and open up with you. I think, as an information professional, the quality of your end product is related to the quality of your listening and asking your clients good questions!
Ellen Naylor has 30 years of marketing and sales experience with a
focus on competitive intelligence (CI). She worked in corporate CI at
Verizon and Northwest Airlines before forming a CI and market research
consultancy, The Business Intelligence Source in 1993. Ellen is an
active SCIP member, serving on its board of directors, chapter
leadership, and numerous committees since 1990. She is a popular
speaker and prolific writer in Competitive Intelligence Magazine,
Competitive Intelligence Foundation books and her blog, http://cooperativeintelligenceblog.com. She is also a member of AIIP and SLA among other associations.
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