Tactical Intelligence: Fiver Tips for Accelerated Expertise

By Deborah Dudley \ September 20, 2024

Tactical: of or relating to small-scale actions serving a larger purpose
Intelligence: the ability to learn or understand or to deal with new or trying situations: also the skilled use of reason

At idfive, it’s our job to be hyper-observant—we notice things, nuances that others would not see. Then, we turn those observations into advantages. Even though we work alongside seasoned veterans and experts in healthcare, public service, arts and culture, and higher education, by following five simple rules, we can add tactical intelligence to our partners’ efforts and be the difference between business as usual and blowing people’s minds. 

Here are five Fiver tips for getting sharp swiftly. 

1. You have to care—for real. 

Working with partners whose core business involves transforming people’s lives for the better—literally saving lives in some cases—means that our team needs to get real smart, real quick. Our clients depend on it, and people’s lives depend on it. 

If you don’t care, you don’t have a chance. Retention comes easily when you are passionate about understanding a challenge, developing strategies, and converting that passion into action and impact. Whether broadcasting evidence-informed behavioral health prevention and promotion frameworks, reinvigorating a commitment to public safety, building bridges through art and culture, or making a case for a billion-dollar campaign that will inform economic opportunities for diverse communities, we care. It matters to us. 

Our mission of amplifying good means we are invested in connecting the dots with urgency and efficiency.

2. Start with what you know and then dig into the who, what, when, where, and why.

If you’re like us, you have probably already done a significant amount of homework with every project you manage or proposal you write. By the time we reach a kickoff meeting with partners, we’re confirming the scope of work and identifying the outcomes our partners hope to achieve. 

What’s missing is how we’re going to get there. To uncover the how, we have to dig into the five Ws: who, what, when, where, and why—especially why.

By answering questions such as “Why is substance use disorder treatment not considered prevention science?”, “Why might museum visitors be intimidated by becoming their own docent?”, and “Why is the word ‘polytechnic’ embraced by some and rejected by others?” we can accelerate our learning curve. We can also narrow our research parameters, immerse ourselves in the problem-solving, and understand what is most compelling about the story. 

Answers to the five Ws are as wide as they are deep and can fill in the vocabulary necessary to understand the complexities of our partners’ challenges. It also helps us identify areas where our understanding is incomplete or where conflicting information exists. These knowledge gaps can serve as the basis for a focus group, survey, or subject matter expert interview.

3. Assume you got it wrong until you can confirm you’ve got it right.

It can be frustrating to be wrong, but when you look for the mistakes, weaknesses, and missing pieces, you quickly build depth in your understanding and avoid the traps and missteps that lurk in superficial summaries. 

This is especially true if you rely on internet search engines or AI tools to help you do your research. While a great way to get a lot of information quickly, the integrity of the information is only as reliable as its source and must be scrutinized and vetted. Rigorous accuracy means making sure you narrow your searches and prompts to be accompanied by recognized and reliable sources. 

4. Listen closely to your subject matter experts. 

The advantage of subject matter experts is that they have done the work that you don’t have time to do. Capitalize on your SMEs to provide context, clarify ambiguities, and offer alternative viewpoints that may not be evident in written sources. Use interviews to validate or challenge the findings from your research. 

Be sure to have your SME give tangible examples and make the topic real. It’s your job to synthesize their intelligence and convert it into creative strategies. It looks something like this:

Converting the expansive knowledge of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art’s curatorial team into seamless website information architecture creates the backbone of connecting visitors across boundaries of time and place. By synthesizing each layer of tactical intel, idfive was able to build a website that gives people around the world the reins to follow their own path of inquiry through centuries of Asian arts, cultures, and societies.

Sometimes it gets personal. For our Ohio Center of Excellence for Behavioral Health Prevention and Promotion work, the SME’s are often taking us through issues that impact our own families and communities. Understanding the nuance of promoting social connections for seniors through grief recovery or new technology hits home. We’re invested in amplifying the good work because not just our lives, but the lives of the people we love are better for it.

5. Trust your partners. 

Being more tactical with your research will help you quickly acquire the knowledge and insights you need, but your partners are often your greatest asset. As strategies evolve and deliverables are built, your conclusions will be tested, refined, and tested again.

Listen carefully to the feedback you receive and the new information that emerges when they articulate what is working and what might be falling short. We’ll trust our faith-based partners to make sure we understand what makes “Sacred Music” sacred or the team of doctors at Johns Hopkins to make sure we are sensitive to the benefits of transforming healthcare into more humanized medicine. By caring, questioning, confirming, listening, and trusting, the details will come to life and add authenticity to every action.