Teaching People To Overcome Biases With Games At Origins, Global Intelligence Forum

Inspired by the announcement of Intelligence Advanced Research Project
Agency's Sirius Program a couple of years ago, I set out to design a tabletop (i.e. card) game that would help people learn more about cognitive biases and hopefully learn to limit the effects of some of the worst of them.

My first two attempts were ... OK ... but I couldn't quite get them to work.  Either they took too long to play or playtesting suggested that the learning effects were too small. 

One day, though, it hit me - a design that was both manageable in terms of time and had good evidence to suggest that it would teach people not only how to identify bias situations in real life but also to apply effective strategies for mitigating the effects of those biases!  In short, I had a good game with proven mechanics and a testable hypothesis -- I was off to the races!

This summer (finally), I am taking my best design, The Mind's Lie, on the road to actually test it.  First up is the Origins Game Fair this week in Columbus, Ohio.  I need participants to test the game and I figured where better to go than one of the world's largest tabletop game fairs?

We have a booth and will be recruiting potential participants for an experiment to see if the game actually works (we are also recruiting for new students, so if you are in the Columbus area and are interested in learning more about our program for you or your son or daughter, do not hesitate to drop by). 

We will be playing the same game at the Global Intelligence Forum in Ireland in early July.  GIF is unquestionably my favorite conference (and not only because Mercyhurst sponsors it...). 

It is the only place I know where intel professionals from all over the world and from across all three major intelligence sub-disciplines - national security, law enforcement and business - meet to talk about how to improve the practice of intelligence.  It is exciting intellectually, in a beautiful town on the coast of Ireland, and is still small enough to actually get to know some people (some pretty interesting people, actually...) instead of just bumping into them.

This year, if The Mind's Lie works like I think it will, the participants will get the opportunity to walk away with a better ability to evaluate evidence in an unbiased manner as well - worth the price of admission, I think!

If you are in the Columbus area this weekend drop by.  We will be showcasing The Mind's Lie and all our other games for intelligence analysts in booth 745 in the exhibit hall.  If you haven't made plans to go to the Global Intelligence Forum, there is still time to register - hope to see you there!

What Do Decisionmakers Want From Intelligence? (Global Intelligence Forum)

globalintelligenceforum.com

One of the most important questions any intelligence professional can ask is "What do the decisionmakers I support want from me?"  Historically, it is also one of the most difficult questions to answer.

That is the reason why the faculty at Mercyhurst nominated Intelligence and the Decisionmaker as the theme for this year's Global Intelligence Forum in Dungarvan, Ireland (July 11-13, 2011).

Looking at the line-up of speakers -- GEN Mike Hayden, Charlie Allen, Hayden Peake from the US, Kathleen O'Toole from Ireland, Anthony Campbell from Canada, Niki Ekman from Sweden, Cees Wiebes from the Netherlands, etc. etc. -- and it easy to see why I think we are going to make some progress on this question.

Two other things make this conference one of a kind.  The first is the attendees.  This conference draws people from all three major sub-disciplines of intelligence:  National security, law enforcement and business.  Not only does it draw people from all areas of intelligence, it also draws people from all over the world.  

So you are going to see guys like Tom Carr, the executive director of the Washington Baltimore High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program rubbing shoulders with Liam Fahey, founder and executive director of the Intelligence Leadership Forum, the organization for senior corporate intelligence professionals.  

There is simply no other conference that brings together this kind of mix of professionals for this kind of conference.  Everyone I spoke with last year took as much away from the interaction between the participants as they did from the speakers.

Which is a nice segue to the second big advantage:  Dungarvan.  What a beautiful place!  Located on the southern Irish coast in the midst of one of the prettiest parts of Ireland, Dungarvan is a perfect place for mixing, making new personal and professional relationships and carving out some time to think about some of the important questions facing the profession.  Extraordinary hospitality, simple pleasures and (my personal favorite) an outstanding local beer make this event both physically relaxing and intellectually energizing. 

We had to turn away people last year so this year we found a larger space and have expanded to 200 (and only 200) attendees.  

Registration and more info about the conference is available online here.  We are also offering two, one day workshops to round out the week. More information on the workshops here.

Questions regarding sponsorship opportunities for your company or organization should be directed to Bob Heibel, Executive Director of the Mercyhurst College Institute For Intelligence Studies at rheibel at mercyhurst dot edu.

Global Intelligence Forum Slides And Notes Now Available To Everyone!

The recently completed Global Intelligence Forum discussing analytic best practices and held in Dungarvan, Ireland was, by all accounts, a huge success.  

We have just finished compiling all of the notes, slides and speeches into a single place for viewing and download and are now making those slides and notes available to anyone interested.

If you are not sure where to start, look at the menu on the far left of the landing page (you can see a screenshot of what the landing page looks like in the picture to the right).  Kathleen Moore, one of our grads (and recent recipient of an AFIO Scholarship for graduate school -- Hooray, Kathleen!) has put together a very useful conference re-cap that points to all of the various presentations and puts them into the broader context of the conference.

If you just want the conference slides and speeches, though, they are all in one place for downloading.  We are still pulling together a number of other resources (we hope to get the full text of Gov. Ridge's speech, for example, as well as some video) but most of the stuff is up there now.

If you are interested in any of the press or other commentary surrounding the conference, our public relations department has helpfully compiled it all on the Facebook page dedicated to the conference.

Enjoy!  

Why I Am Not Writing About Dungarvan... (Liveblogging The Global Intelligence Forum)

Image by cole007 via Flickr

First, let me say unequivocally that is not because I don't want to write about it.  It was an amazing conference.

The problem is that Murphy is Irish and he had somehow found his way into my computer and anything associated with it.  I knew that my liveblogging days were short-lived when my not-so-universal electrical socket adapter could not be configured to an Irish socket. 

Without electricity, my attempts to keep up with the pace of this conference were doomed.  

My intent now is to wait until we can get the slides uploaded to our website sometime next week and then add my notes along with some links to anything else that seems relevant.

If you are starved for feedback in the meantime, you can see Meghan Corbin's updates on Facebook.

First Impressions... (Liveblogging the Global Intelligence Forum)

(Note:  This week I am in Dungarvan, Ireland for the Global Intelligence Forum.  I will posting impressions and reports from the conference as time permits.)

I arrived in Ireland early this morning from JFK.  It was about as good a flight as can be expected when traveling in coach these days.  I came into Shannon instead of Dublin and I can recommend it.  Shannon is a small-ish airport as international airports go and you are through customs and the baggage carousels in a flash.

To the extent that I was dreading this trip, it was largely due to what was going to happen next -- the bus ride to Dungarvan.  I had been told that it was upward of three hours. 

I shouldn't have been so worried.  I spent the better part of it chatting with the other attendees, including a long discussion with Will McGill about my recent experience in using games in the classroom.  The rest of the time...well...I was in Ireland!  People talk about the beauty of the countryside and, while I have spent a number of years in Europe, I have to admit that I have never been to the Emerald Isle.

Big mistake.  It is every bit as lovely as people say -- some really breathtaking views of the countryside that even the best photos don't do justice.  I also had some time to walk around the town of Dungarvan.  Charming, absolutely charming.  While I have to admit that I am a sucker for the Irish accent and, as a consequence, my positioned may be a tad biased, I can honestly say that the Irish people are some of the kindest I have ever met. 

My accommodations at the Park Hotel are also quite nice.  There are a lot of old hotels in Europe and a lot of hotels in Europe that have modern conveniences.  Few hotels have the right mix of the two.   Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the experience is to walk through the lobby and see the wide variety of analysts -- not only from all over the world but also from all different types of disciplines --  gathered in one location, talking and exchanging ideas.

It has been a good trip so far and I expect it to get better tonight as we start the conference with a reception and then kick off the presentations in earnest tomorrow.

I Am Off To The Global Intelligence Forum... (Liveblogging Dungarvan)

...in Dungarvan, Ireland!

I am very much looking forward to this, not only becasue it is in Ireland but also because it represents a kind of re-start on one of my favorite conferences of all times -- the annual Mercyhurst Colloquium.  

Anyone who ever went to one of the old Colloquia knows they were great conferences.  With much less focus on presentation after mind-numbing presentation and much more emphasis on educated discussion and networking over...ahem..."libations" of one sort or another, it was the perfect conference to not only relax but also to think and talk about intelligence in new ways with interesting people.  

Mercyhurst put the colloquium on hiatus for a few years to help IAFIE get up and running but with that organization moving forward on its own with a healthy head of steam, and with Mercyhurst starting to hold classes in Dungarvan, it seemed like too good an opportunity to pass up (By the way, the very generous sponsors who helped make it all happen seemed to think so too...)

So, I am pretty pumped!  I am told by everyone who had an hand in the preparation that the Irish have pulled out all the stops and some of our students, who spent the last term studying over there, say the absolute best things about the people of Dungarvan.  

While I am sure the hospitality will be great, the company I'll be keeping will be even better.  If you have not had the chance, check out the speaker list.  I will try to blog some of the events from over there but a more complete report may have to wait until I get back.

If you are not going to be able to go, besides this blog, you can also follow some of the action on Facebook or on the Mercyhurst website (where they are posting the news coverage of the event).

And if you are one of the lucky ones that get to go?  Look for me at Downey's on Main St.  I'll be the big Yank in the back enjoying Dungarvan Brewing Company's exceptionally fine red ale!