Cross!

There is a corporate culture in America that says as long as the process is adhered to, people have done their jobs. Orderly, predictable processes that can be clearly mapped and explained are not an end in themselves. The time and effort spent on them can be justified in only one way: success. Over and over, the lovers of ISO 9000, 9001 and endless other standards confuse the means with the end. They embrace order -- even when it leads to failure.

That is what happened at the CIA: A culture of process destroyed a culture of excellence. There are many outstanding people at the agency, in both the Directorate of Intelligence and in Operations. The agency's obsession with the intelligence process crushes these people daily. Those who flourish in this environment are those who can sit through long meetings without falling asleep. The people who can peer through the darkness and see the truth are either sucked into the surreal world of modern management or shunted aside.

Jeremy says: Gold Star.

I say: This link is on Free Republic. They are a bad reputation for being the Republican version of the Slashdot hordes. All power in numbers and no clue. However, the article is Stratfor, and hence worthy of attention. It reads a bit Republican, which is likely why the freepers have posted it. I'm not sure that it is. Stratfor likes to talk about what is going on and why. They don't usually talk about what might have been done. Its rare that they talk about what ought to be done.

The Problem With the CIA