The intelligence community responsible for assessing and identifying terrorist threats may have some interesting lessons for the other intelligence community – the one responsible for analyzing customer relationships.

At a CIA-sponsored conference in Rome earlier this week, members of US intelligence agencies got together with their foreign counterparts in some 30 countries. “We are in a world where transnational terrorist threats exceed the ability of any one nation to deal with them,” said Carol Dumaine, the conference organizer and a 24-year veteran of the agency, in the opening keynote.

As reported by David Ignatius of the Washington Post, Dumaine and her team has spent two years organizing a set of gatherings that are designed to provoke new thinking in the intelligence field. One of the key concerns being addressed by the endeavor is the perception that the “closed and bureaucratic world of intelligence” has failed to adapt to the mounting threats posed by modern terrorists. The CIA's deputy director for intelligence, Jami Miscik, discussed "the cognitive rigidity of analysts" and "the parochial effects of experts." Indeed, she concluded that "the biggest danger is inherited assumptions that get handed down from generation to generation [of analysts]."

What’s extraordinary is the CIA’s willingness to open itself up in this way, revealing its weaknesses and limitations for all to see. Having failed to “connect the dots” prior to 9/11 or to adequately assess the situation in Iraq, the agency seems prepared to acknowledge that new approaches are necessary. In a way, the CIA is addressing the same types of limitations that often prevent companies from understanding and adapting to the demands of their customers in these dynamic, often unpredictable times.

Secrecy may no longer be the best weapon in this era. Now, it’s about innovation and risk-taking, openness and change. It’s also about collaborative learning and action. As one Italian participant put it: “To fight a network, you need another network.”