Experiential modeling: Innovation opportunity for competitive intelligence professionals

Abstract Experiential Modeling (EM) consists of a portfolio of tools that translates the judgment of individuals into data that can be used to predict the “know‐how” (informal, unrecorded professional experience) of competitors before they are able to use it to advance their own businesses. The authors content that knowledge has two components: data and experience. The definition of these as well as the difference between information, know‐how, knowledge, and knowledge blocks are examined. The role of intelligence professionals, the authors say, is not to gather information to pass on to decision makers, but rather to design the structure and tools required to focus the decision makers' judgment into “knowledge blocks” (concisely written problem‐solving documents, incorporating judgments based on valid experiences) that enable decision makers to solve their own “puzzle.” The essential components of the EM methodology are the design of complex templates and glossaries of terms, modeling processes that convert judgment into mathematical equations, and the skill to use these equations to solve complex puzzles. The authors provide an overview of EM as well as three case studies. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.