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Learning Through Dialogue During Intelligence Assessments: A Translation Of Theory Into Practice, Adrian Wolfberg, Nancy M. Dixon

Engaged Management ReView

We translate a theory into the practice of intelligence assessments. Following Karl Weick’s (1993) retrospective approach, the translation relies on previously published evaluations of intelligence assessment practices. Intelligence assessments are used in organizations to inform leaders of threats and opportunities. The theory we apply describes how an intelligence analyst learns through dialogue during the practice of conducting an intelligence assessment, and it consists of four learning archetypes: cooperative, focused, survival, and reflective. The theory is based on the differential effects on learning caused by the interaction between information overload and equivocality. We use the role of dialogue in the theory …