by Chris Savos | Nov 10, 2020 | Analysis, Writing
One of the most effective ways to overcome a potential customer’s skepticism about taking the time to read your analytic product is to purge your prose of unnecessary words. This mirrors my advice in an earlier post for analysts to be as concise and clear as possible....
by Chris Savos | Nov 2, 2020 | Analysis, Writing
Analysts rightfully put a lot of effort into getting the big things right in their written work, such as being objective, having a clear analytic bottom line, and using evidence properly. They don’t always get them right the first time, but they try. The level of...
by Chris Savos | Oct 27, 2020 | Analysis, Professional Development
I can sum up the idea behind the creation of Proficiency1, an online training community for national intelligence and risk assessment professionals, in one vignette from my career. While interviewing candidates for analyst positions at the CIA, a grad student asked me...
by Chris Savos | Oct 21, 2020 | Analysis
I remember when I started my analytic career being unpleasantly surprised to find policymakers were not the eager consumers of my products that I assumed they’d be. I was writing on interesting topics and providing what I thought were valuable insights, yet most of my...
by Chris Savos | Oct 14, 2020 | Uncategorized
As a 22-year veteran of the Central Intelligence Agency’s analytic corps I’ve talked to hundreds of people interested in knowing more about a career as an Agency analyst. Thanks to Hollywood’s usually warped view of what analysts do, the necessary veil of secrecy that...
