Anyone that works in competitive intelligence deals with tough questions. Sometimes they concern specific competitors. Other times there are challenging issues about important trends. Making sense of copious details can consume a CI professional’s time. These questions arise during the execution of our jobs. Answering them is tough and specific to the assignment.

However, a different set of questions can be more difficult to answer.

These questions are fundamental and overarching. They are unrelated to a specific analysis technique or task. Instead, people ask them to understand relationships, value and the possible impacts of competitive intelligence. They are especially relevant to establishing a competitive intelligence function in an organization or when entering an organization as a consultant. Without good answers, the competitive intelligence person is vulnerable to “side tracking.” Side tracking inhibits a CI person from delivering the value that they have to the client because they are unable to answer fundamental  questions well.

Here are the 5 most difficult competitive intelligence questions and a possible answer to each.