This article was originally published in the Intelligence Insights May 2010 newsletter of the Special Libraries Association – Competitive Intelligence Division.

I remember standing next to my fellow student as we both stared at the teacher in the front of the classroom. Fourth grade rarely got as intense as when we were competing to give the right answer to the teacher’s flash card question. The teacher would wait until we ready and then quickly display the card with a math problem. What was the answer to “8 times 7?” We rushed to raise our hands. It was not a small matter to master multiplication and we were proud when we did (especially when we won the competition).

In math (as in most subjects), we learn the basics first. Complex problems remain a mystery until a solid foundation of principles and techniques is established. We first learn to add, subtract, multiple and divide. Later, we learn about fractions, percentages, geometric shapes and trigonometry. Each topic builds on established foundations and represents significant learning.

About the time that we were satisfied with what we knew, our math teachers introduced a new challenge – word problems.

Recently, the news of a “lost” prototype of the new Apple iPhone graced the covers of many prominent news publications (for example, CNN) . Could this be the design for the next model that most think will be revealed next month? Notice, the reports said, the new case design, the forward facing camera and the improved display. Apple must be dismayed that the revealed information. How would this information affect Apple’s competitors? Would not the early disclosure help them? Perhaps these competitors could alter their marketing messages, revamp their own products and initiate counter-measures in May (rather than after the official announcement).

A casual perusal of many websites such as Gizmondo and Engadget highlights many similar leaks. These sites routinely report pre-launch information about new products. Sometimes the information sources are clear. In many cases, the sources are unnamed. Sometimes the information is detailed. Often, the details are sketchy.

How should competitive intelligence people deal with leaks?

Here are five important principles and cautions.

Pop quiz – What does a soldier spend most of his time doing?

Someone might correctly point out that a soldier’s job is to defend his or her country by being ready to fight. So, do they spend most of their time fighting? In most armies, the answer is “no,” even when their country is at war. Soldiers spend most of their time waiting, practicing and preparing for the (relatively) brief times that they are in combat.

Military leaders know this, of course, and therefore create activities, training, simulations and duties to occupy the downtime between combat circumstances. Thus, when combat does occur, their troops are well prepared to win.

What about competitive intelligence professionals? What do you spend most of your time doing?

Many might guess that you and I are constantly engaged in projects for internal (or, for consultants, external) clients. That might be true for some people but my experience is that there can be significant downtime for most. By “downtime,” I mean that there is time when there is not a specific pressing project or task to complete. Maybe the management focus is on another issue or leaders are reacting to other problems. This time is a breathing spell that may be short or long. However, we know that it will end, perhaps abruptly when a new request for urgent competitive intelligence arrives.

How can the time between competitive intelligence projects be used productively?

(I have a short survey at http://jthawes.limequery.com/17155/lang-en on Competitive Intelligence Monitoring. Please add your opinion.)

I think that there are five R’s to remember to make this time useful.

ReThink Marketing

I met someone recently that is a successful marketing consultant. Her website has a graphic that asks the simple question:  Why do you need a marketing consultant? She goes on to give ten reasons why someone might be wise to engage with her to further their business. It all makes perfect sense and it prompts me to ask (and answer) a similar question for competitive intelligence. Why should someone bother with competitive intelligence? Why invest time, energy and resources to commission someone internally or externally to work on competitive intelligence? What reasons might make sense to someone that had to approve the budget?

There could be many reasons given. Many would be contextual. For example, in your firm, competitive intelligence might be important because of a person, a specific incident or the history of the company. Still, there are some very common and powerful reasons what any company would benefit from competitive intelligence.

Here are my top five reasons.