May 13, 2020
Carmen Medina served 32 years in senior positions at the Central Intelligence Agency, most of which focused on one of the hardest tasks in the community, that of analysis. Carmen rose to lead the strategic assessments group for the agency, then was deputy director of intelligence, the most senior leadership position for analysis at the agency and one of the most senior positions in the entire intelligence community. She also spent time as the director of the Center for the Study of Intelligence, where she oversaw ways to teach, mentor and improve analysis for the community.
She is also a writer, co-authority two books, Rebels at Work: A handbook for leading change, and Rebels at Work Dispatches.
We have been huge fans of Carmen's for years, having observed her practicing her art in and out of the intelligence community. In this wide-ranging discussion we covered many topics of high relevance to business and government leaders, including:
- Some of her recent writing on analytical thought
- Ways to estimate intentions of others even in chaotic environments
- Using the actions of leaders to track intent
- Cognitive traps, cognitive bias and analytical methods that can mitigate problems with these traps
- Human nature when it comes to analysis, and ways we can improve on our own weaknesses when it comes to thinking
- The paradox of warning
- The streetlight effect
- Her sources of information
Related Resources:
- Thinking in the Time of the Coronavirus Part One
- Thinking in the Time of the Coronavirus Part Two
- Rebels at Work: A handbook for leading change from within
- An Executive’s Guide to Cognitive Bias in Decision Making: How we think is critically important.
- A Decision-Makers’s Guide to Artificial Intelligence: A plain english overview with the insights you need to drive corporate decisions
- The Executive’s Guide to Quantum Computing: What business decision-makers need to know now about quantum superiority
- The Executive’s Guide to the Revolution in Biology: An overview of key thrusts of the transformation underway in biology and offers seven topics business leaders should consider when updating business strategy to optimize opportunity because of these changes.
- OODA COVID-19 Sense-making: A dynamic resource for OODA Network members looking for Coronavirus/COVID-19 information to drive their decision-making process. We’ll update it with new links as we encounter them. This is not meant to be a comprehensive list, but rather a compilation of the most useful resources.
- The 2020 OODA Cybersecurity Watch List: list can serve multiple stakeholders. Investors can find firms that have demonstrated good product-market fit and are good candidates for follow-on funding. CISOs can find companies that have demonstrated real disruptive technology potential and at least enough traction to prove they are worth considering.
- OODAcast on YouTube: OODA's YouTube Channel