Critical Thinking for Strategic Intelligence Second Edition

Just what I needed to help educate our defense intelligence analyst

Excellent resource- well written and comprehensive.

Foremost, do know that the authors' target audience is fairly broad: "anyone who wants to think smarter and write better" (xv). So if you are worried about your qualifications, set those fears aside. This is written on a level that laypeople can easily comprehend, enjoy, and apply. And, certainly, professionals in the field will find a multitude of valuable concepts in this text as well.What distinguishes this from comparable texts is the anticipation of potential issues. For example, I found the "Stop!" boxes (that are scattered throughout the text) to be invaluable. Some of these boxes are merely thoughtful. For instance, one such box warns against assuming "that everyone participating in an online collaborative environment defines terms in the same way ..." (76). Sage advise. But some of these "Stop!" boxes offer brilliant wisdom that most discover through unfortunate trial and error. For instance, when creating visuals, "Never use a color palette until you have checked to see if all the colors selected also work when copied in black and white. The visual 'message' you are trying to convey could shift dramatically. For example, yellow often disappears and red can appear black" (232). I like the practicality of this.As far as critical thinking texts are concerned, this offers excellent insight in a jargon-free manner. (As someone who teaches critical thinking/writing at the college-level, I have read a number of brutally jargon-laden texts that my students simply cannot/will not plow through). Thankful, this text is accessible to all. Now, it is just a little on the "dry" side. But, sometimes it's better to err on the side of quiet/dull than to go to far into the realm of zany (which a number of these texts attempt in an effort to capture and hold reader-attention). So sure, as a whole, it's not a scintillating page-turner, but it absolutely educates.The forward states that this text complements seven other Pherson texts. So, if you enjoy this work (and I suspect you will), do grab a few of the others in this series that interest you:-Analytic Writing Guide-Analytic Production Guide-Analytic Briefing Guide-Handbook of Analytic Tools and Techniques-Intelligence Analysis-Cases in Intelligence Analysis-Communicating Intelligence in the Digital Era

When the 1st endorsement is from a senior CIA executive, you know you picked up the right book.Great work on how to think better or properly or differently or whatever you think you need.Outstanding stories and examples. Pherson's book is like a work of art in the world of left brain thinking.Fun and extremely useful read for business executives and entrepreneurs.

Ottimo libro per chi e' nel campo dell'analisi o per chi e' interessato ad un approccio piu' strutturato a supporto del processo decisionale.