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Rating: 
Summary: One of the year's best!
Review: About a month ago, one of our strategy consultants recommended this book to me as a great way to spend some time over the holidays. I decided to see what some of your readers thought about it before I ordered it and the first one I saw was from John Harrington from Denver. It was such a terrible review that I almost decided not to go any further. But, when I saw that he'd read it at our local library here in Wellesley, I decided that I'd look at it myself on my next trip downtown. That was when I found that our library didn't even carry the book. At that point, my curiosity turned into some anger that I'd wasted my time because it was pretty obvious to me that somebody was trying to play some kind of a game with the review. But I got even more curious about who would write such a thing and why. That's when I went back to your site to see what else others had written, and who had written them. I even went to so far as to ask our consultant if she knew Harrington or any of the others. She said that although she knew and respected many of them, she had never heard of Harrington. She checked her membership list for her professional society and he wasn't a member of that either. I decided to ignore the Harrington review and had my secretary order it for me. Am I ever glad I did! I read it over the holidays and when I get back, I'm going to have her order 18 more for my senior managers. So far, I've filled 15 pages with notes and new ideas from this excellent book that we're going to put into practice. I have rarely found a business book that has a focus on one discipline that stretches my mind across almost all areas of my company's operations. I'm glad that I took the hours, not the five minutes that Harrington says he took, to actually read this terrific and thought provoking book.
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Summary: Techniques not just sources for competitive research
Review: Ahhhhh... the joy of reading something about intelligence and counter-intelligence that doesn't talk about bribing guards, professional prostitutes or hacking, nor about Porter's five forces or equivalent. A very well grounded book that takes itself seriously and have a very practical grounding. Add to this that it is very well written and to the point nearly all the time. The only negative comments are that it is badly typeset and the nearly total absence of any pictures or summarizing tables makes it sometimes hard to comprehend and use a text-book or reference litterature. Now, how do I get my CEO to read, hmm...
Rating: 
Summary: Keeping what's mine and taking what's yours
Review: I am not afraid to put my name to a review of this great work. John Nolan has captured in a single source reference book all of the tools needed to survive in a world where competitive business intelligence is becoming the master's game. My personal experience based on Mr. Nolan's ideas and lessons learned has allowed me to grow my company and protect out proprietary secrets from our competitors. I found myself reading several chapters over and over again as I incorporated his suggestions into my business and personal life. We have now trained our staff using John Nolan's suggestions and lessons. We have become intensely aware of how much "hard" information was going right out the front door to those we trusted most. We won't make those mistakes again. Anyone who discounts this work will not survive in the cutthroat business environment of today. Read the whole book and you will never again see your day-to-day operations in the same light. As has been said, "Game On, the next move is yours". We will now always be one step ahead of the competition, always watching our backs for that one weak guy who lurks in the shadows trying to take away what is ours to keep. When Mr. Nolan writes his next book we will be first in line to purchase 10 copies.
Rating:
Summary: A quick lesson in common sense
Review: It's a bit humbling to have an author provide so much common sense in one book. Somehow it seems like I should have learned this from the lessons of life. Nolan gives clear answers to guide businesses in the process of protecting their proprietary information. It is a must-read for those involved in this work. The discussion of interviewing skills will be on my list to re-read once a year. It is a valuable resource.
Rating:
Summary: Written by (and for) an intelligence professional
Review: John Nolan has a style that makes this niche teaching book also a great read. With just a small amount of teasing info about his background in government intelligence, he moves directly into skill recognition and honing that will allow CI professionals to expand their tool boxes. Through many case study examples he demonstrates that the techniques he has written about are those he himself has practiced and successfully used. In addition to my appreciation for his one-liners and clever "winks" to the reader, my favorite part of the book is the full ethic/moral gray-zone discussions and examples the appendices contain.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Book I've Ever Read on Compretitive Intelligence
Review: John Nolan, a 22 year veteran in the intelligence community, has written what I believe is the best book on the subject of competitive intelligence. Most books on competitive intelligence, more commonly known as CI, focus on the collection and analysis of information from online databases, the Internet, company financial reports, etc. Mr. Nolan's expertise however, is in "elicitation." Elicitation is the process of conversing with another person in a non-threatening manner and have that person unintentionally reveal information about themselves or their companies. The most valuable parts of the book are those sections that cover the elicitation techniques - there are 17 in all according to Mr. Nolan. Readers will gain valuable insight into each of the techniques and how to use them. Mr. Nolan uses clear and concise examples to make his points. Once the reader becomes expert at using the elicitation techniques, Mr. Nolan shows how to protect information, what to protect, how to protect it and for how long. Mr. Nolan's book is engagingly written, and above all, useful the day one starts to read it. 'Confidential' describes ethical and legal procedures and processes that, with some practice, yield greater confidence in decisions that must be made 'ahead of the curve.' Once I started reading this book, I couldn't put it down! Mark Robinson, author of "Beyond Competitive Intelligence: The Practice of CounterIntelligence and Trade Secrets Protection."
Rating: 
Summary: RN Appalled
Review: Many organizations do little (if anything) to protect their most valuable information. I don't know why. The first objective of Confidential is to explain what an effective intelligence gathering system is and does. The second objective is to explain how companies can effectively protect the intelligence they possess. Drawing upon more than twenty years of extensive prior experience in intelligence and counterintelligence, Nolan offers a number of "tools" and "techniques" from which to select those most appropriate. (He even helps with the selection process.) Perhaps the best place to begin is to complete what he calls an "intelligence audit." It consists of two different clusters of basic questions: First: What do we need to know? Why? What do we need to know that we do not as yet know? How and from which sources can we obtain what we lack? Finally, what are our strategic objectives? For example, what kinds of intelligence will we probably need within the next 12-18 months? Why? Then: What does our own intelligence consist of? How is it organized? Which of it is most valuable? Why? From whom should our most valuable intelligence be protected? How? The "good news" is that any organization can (with appropriate modifications) implement a system based on Nolan's Integrated Business Intelligence Model. The "bad news" is that any organization lacking such a system remains vulnerable to adversaries who have such a system in place. Organizations claim that their "most valuable assets walk out the door at the end of each day." As Nolan explains in Confidential, the implications of that statement often involve much more than generally realized. Stated bluntly, those "most valuable assets" could well include proprietary information which should not be removed (usually having been photcopied) at the end of a business day. One final point: Nothing which Nolan recommends is either illegal or unethical. Indeed, most organizations make it so easy for competitors to obtain the information desired that there is no need for illegal or unethical initiatives. Purchase this book, follow its advice, and thereby enable your organizatoion to obtain the information it needs while protecting from its comnpetitors the information they would love to have. Why wait?
Rating:
Summary: Right on Target !!!!!!!
Review: Mr Nolan's jockular style of writing takes the reader through all the ins and outs of planning,gathering, and then evaluating competitive intelligence. He has been there,done that and then some and it clearly shows in his very informative tome. He introduces the reader to the intell cycle and then shows exactly how to implement it. I highly recommend this classic.
Rating:
Summary: A Must Read for Today's Executives!
Review: Powerful, practical, and comprehensive. Confidential is the best I've seen on the subject of competitive intelligence and counterintelligence. John Nolan is right on target!
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