Cooperative Intelligence

In my 25+ years working in and for corporations, first as an employee and then as an independent consultant supporting clients’ competitive intelligence operations, I have noticed that the focus is too often on process and monitoring the competition using secondary research and the Internet, and increasingly neglects the relationships we must forge with individuals—the backbone of any successful intelligence operation. 

From speaking to people in other professions, I have learned that this focus on process is widespread, particularly due to the high usage of electronic communication that has replaced the telephone and face-to-face meetings.

Cooperative Intelligence puts people in the center. 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 organization.  When people trust you, they often will do what you ask them to do since they want to.

Cooperative intelligence integrates cooperative leadership, cooperative connection, and cooperative communication.  Cooperative intelligence can be applied in any functional area of a company and in any industry.

More detailed information on cooperative intelligence is contained in the articles below.  Additionally, a blog is being developed.  Publish date is early 4Q 2008.  We are also writing a book on cooperative intelligence.  Stay tuned for a publish date!

Introducing Cooperative Intelligence

Cooperative Intelligence: The Executive Angle

Communicating Cooperatively: The Beginning

Cooperative Intelligence: Relationship Building Part 2

Cooperative Intelligence: Relationship Building

Cooperative Intelligence Workshops

We also conduct cooperative intelligence workshops, which are all customized based on an operational SWOT we conduct to determine your strengths and weaknesses in cooperative intelligence.  They range from a half a day to two days in duration.

General topics include:

Cooperative Intelligence through Leadership, Connection and Communication

Cooperative Leadership from Any Position

Cooperative Connection: Build/Nourish/Assess Your Network

Discover Your Power through Cooperative Communication

For more details, please connect with us at 1-303-838-4545 or answers@thebisource.com.

Cooperative leadership

Many leaders of major corporations make decisions without listening to customers or even middle managers who have a lot more hands-on connection with the marketplace.  This top down management approach does not encourage creativity, risk taking or cooperation.  Rather it fosters mistrust, a lack of confidence and fear among a company’s employees.

True leadership rests on an element of cooperation.  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.  Employees know their management listens and will share information and make recommendations to improve the company’s competitive position.  Cooperative leaders also attract sources outside of the company since those sources know that a cooperative executive is very knowledgeable and doesn’t make decisions in isolation.   

Regardless of where you sit in your company you are a leader.  Before you can lead or motivate others to cooperate with you, reflect on how you lead yourself.  Motivation is often triggered by your good example.  What leaders do says more about who they are than what they say. 

While we can’t control other’s attitudes towards us, we can control our own attitudes and behaviors.  Our attitude sets the tone, regardless of the other person’s motivation, position or personal issues.  Through cooperative leadership, we project a positive attitude as one who provides a valuable service, intellectual capital and great connections. 

Cooperative connection

I am always amazed that many of my clients who are developing a competitive intelligence (CI) operation think that they can get competitive data from people in their company without offering them something back in return.  A cooperative connector is altruistic: consider and ask how you can help someone, and you will make a positive and lasting impression.

Recognize 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.  The essence of cooperative relationship building is to recognize that it takes effort on your part, and it happens one person at a time. Cooperative connectors realize that everyone they connect with becomes part of their network and every stranger has the potential to become an important connection.

Cooperative 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 depersonalized workforce, we witness the replacement of face to face meetings with teleconferencing and webinars as well as telephone conversations with electronic communication, which can lead to miscommunication.

Never before 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.

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, which is absent 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 that people in your network communicate with.  Cooperative communicators know when people realize that you are really listening to them without bias—regardless of behavior style and motivation—they will respect you and open up with you.