Understanding culture as a professional enabler

As you might have noticed if you have been following my work, I am very much focused on understanding Intelligence Cultures and Strategic Cultures. Not just of adversaries, but also of partners and friends, and of course, our own cultures.

In recent months, I am increasingly operationalizing this line of research, both in National Security and in Business.

For instance, when I discuss Israeli National Intelligence Culture with intelligence professionals, and especially when I focus on competition for dominance between sub-cultures (my favorite topic...), these practitioners are starting to ask: Can we use this cultural framework to create a cultural diagnosis? Can we situate ourselves on the "scale" between competing sub-cultures? Can we even use this framework to plan our way ahead, corresponding with our aspired culture? My answer, of course, is "Yes. Let's try to do that".

And in the Business sector, specifically for Defense and Intelligence vendors, I increasingly see the business value from understanding potential clients' and partners' cultures, terminology, and language. It is not just about understanding the challenges of your client you wish to solve, although this is the foundation. It is also about understanding how organizations address problems. Which frameworks do they use. Which inclinations do they have when they practice strategy, military operations, or intelligence, etc. And yes, language, in many aspects, reflects these beliefs and practices. In other words, it refelcts culture.