Knowledge Management in the Intelligence Enterprise (Artech House Information Warfare Library)

Rating:
Summary: Insightful and well documented
Review: The information in this book is applicable to a wide variety of organizations. It is packed full of visual models and tables. The literature is cited appropriately and not excessively. It is a small book but not a quick read. It contains insights that I have not seen in other places, such as a brief reference to the relevance to Jungian personality theory (as implemented by Myers and Briggs) to the design of a collaborative culture. I think the book is worth the price because of the number and quality of the insights it contains. The author writes clearly. There is some use of symbolic logic and formulas. Most of the ideas are communicated in text and/or by visual models.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent KM reference and "How to Do It" book!
Review: This book is a must read for analysts, their managers and analytic solutions developers.

Ed Waltz's newest book "Knowledge Management in the Intelligence Enterprise" capitalizes quite handily on the theoretical and practical aspects of "information theory" as presented in his previous book "Information Warfare Principles and Operations" and his extensive contacts and experience with the U.S. Intelligence Community.

Waltz's book provides a comprehensive reference that readily marries the technologies, techniques and latest theories and practices of Knowledge Management with the priorities, real-world evolutionary pressure, culture and tradecraft of the U. S. Intelligence Community. He artfully covers the complex trade offs between organizational culture, social trends, real-world realities and analytical innovation.

There are more good ideas and success paths identified within its pages than any other book that I have read in the Knowledge Management field. His insights and prescribed solutions warrant close study and contemplation by anyone involved in developing, fielding or using advanced analytical methods whether they are in government or private industry.

This book is not a "coffee table" book or a Clancy page turner, but could easily serve as a graduate level text book for developing, fielding and using advanced analytical methods against a wide range of challenging problems. His writing style is very methodical and concise. He is rigorous in citing authoritative sources and his writings are extensively footnoted. (The extensive footnotes and associated hyperlinks may well be worth the price of the book alone.)

Mr. Waltz is currently the Technical Director of Intelligence Systems at Veridian.

Rating:
Summary: Knowledge Enterprise
Review: To my knowledge, this book is unique among the books on the U.S. Intelligence Community(IC) in that it is based on the premise that the member agencies of the IC are in fact knowledge based enterprises whose most important function is to transform raw information (data) into knowledge (intelligence). Its author, Ed Waltz has developed a detailed and, on the whole, accurate descriptive model (based on system engineering principles) of how such an enterprise is structured, managed, and operates. Within this model, he provides a detailed account of the cognitive and mechanical steps involved in intelligence analysis and the role of information systems in supporting that process. Needless to say this book is descriptive, not prescriptive, so Waltz does not offer any cure all panaceas for the very real problems afflicting the IC and its agencies. That said, any would be reformers of the IC ought read this book with care and have it by their side at all times. Waltz provides the clearest and most accurate description that I have seen on the arcane workings of intelligence analysis and production.

Even so, Waltz is guilty of some very serious omissions in this book which do detract from its overall value. The most serious is that he virtually ignores the importance of target knowledge in the analytic process. That is, an effective intelligence analyst must know the structures, personal and behaviors of the target on which he is working in order to be able to spot significant deviations from the norm or to predict future actions. Waltz implies the existence of target knowledge, but does not provide any real discussion of it. In the same manner, he brushes over the dynamic relationship between analysis and collection. He alludes to it in a table on page 161, but does not expand on its importance and implications. This relationship ties into, another of his omissions concerning the value and role of serendipity in the analytic and collection process. Serendipity is the natural consequence of dealing with large quantities of raw information and accidental discoveries can lead to often significant changes in collection tasking.

These concerns aside, this is an excellent book. One can only hope that if, and when, the U.S. ever actually tries for real reform in the IC, it will look to folks like Ed Waltz for advice and guidance.