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ANALYTIC CULTURE IN THE US INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY
Review of analytic culture within US intelligence agencies like the CIA.
- GenresNonfiction
176 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 14, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 30, 2026
1. Something superficial about the writing tone
2. The title is better than the book
3. I still got stuff out of it, e.g., I liked breaking down what does it mean to be an expert into facts, procedures and concepts, I liked the quotes from the analysts, and I liked the idea of the (too short) section reflecting on intelligence failures - and why there should be a common post-event debrief template to add to a widely shared database. I also liked the parts on socialization before joining, and what I think is now widely known best HR practices to give the worst parts of the job up front.
4. Some things like the "systems analysis" of the intelligent reporting lifecycle didn't work that well for me, but I see what it's getting at - it's not linear!
5. Potentially this book is the product of the consultant trap, where the motivation to bring in the consultant isn't to do novel analysis, but to reflect back what is already widely known in a nicely packaged form so some executives can argue for a particular set of reforms. In this case, the reform seems to be to move away from the CIA being CNN, and into setting up the conditions for analysts to think deeper. With this lens, the chapters on stuff like "IT-enchanced" learning are superflous and to me 2o years later, seem hopelessly optimistic about how beneficial it is.
6. I think reading Simon Case's thesis, or any of the books by Peter Hennessy may be more beneficial by going deeper into particular case studies, like post-1945 Berlin.
2. The title is better than the book
3. I still got stuff out of it, e.g., I liked breaking down what does it mean to be an expert into facts, procedures and concepts, I liked the quotes from the analysts, and I liked the idea of the (too short) section reflecting on intelligence failures - and why there should be a common post-event debrief template to add to a widely shared database. I also liked the parts on socialization before joining, and what I think is now widely known best HR practices to give the worst parts of the job up front.
4. Some things like the "systems analysis" of the intelligent reporting lifecycle didn't work that well for me, but I see what it's getting at - it's not linear!
5. Potentially this book is the product of the consultant trap, where the motivation to bring in the consultant isn't to do novel analysis, but to reflect back what is already widely known in a nicely packaged form so some executives can argue for a particular set of reforms. In this case, the reform seems to be to move away from the CIA being CNN, and into setting up the conditions for analysts to think deeper. With this lens, the chapters on stuff like "IT-enchanced" learning are superflous and to me 2o years later, seem hopelessly optimistic about how beneficial it is.
6. I think reading Simon Case's thesis, or any of the books by Peter Hennessy may be more beneficial by going deeper into particular case studies, like post-1945 Berlin.
January 2, 2026
Pretty cool. Organizational anthropology. Very practical, but still interesting given the extreme clarity of thought and meta-descriptions of anthropological methods throughout.
The CIA is just CNN with some extra secrets.
The CIA is just CNN with some extra secrets.
March 9, 2012
Great study of the IC and the only I've seen that is a legitimate science-based cultural study that comes from the outside looking in. This study is about 7 years old and I think a number of the recommendations have been implemented in pockets, but as with Heuer, and Kent before, you get the sense that lessons just do not get learned or at least do not lead to changes in the culture.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews