Think sharper, question deeper, and deliver analysis that stands up under pressure.
Scope Statement:
Analysts Edge is an intensive 5-day course designed for intelligence professionals who must produce objective, rigorous, and transparent assessments in complex, high-stakes environments.
The course equips students with the mindset, methods, and tradecraft standards needed to elevate their analysis beyond intuition and habit. Participants learn to recognize how analytic bias, mindsets, and assumptions shape their judgments; apply Structured Analytic Techniques (SATs); and align their products with ICD-203 analytic tradecraft standards.
Through scenario-based exercises, guided practice, and a culminating capstone, learners develop habits of critical inquiry, strengthen their ability to generate and evaluate multiple hypotheses, and produce defensible, well-structured intelligence products that decision makers can trust.
During this course, students will gain the skills to:
- Understand How Thinking Shapes Analysis
- Evaluate how critical thinking, analytic bias, mindsets, perspective, and assumptions influence analytic accuracy and credibility.
- Recognize your own cognitive tendencies and how they affect judgments.
- Apply Tradecraft Standards for Rigor & Objectivity
- Interpret and apply ICD-203 analytic tradecraft standards.
- Strengthen objectivity, sourcing transparency, and clarity in written and verbal assessments.
- Use Structured Analysis for Complex Problems
- Integrate Structured Analytic Techniques (SATs) into your workflow.
- Employ tools such as problem restatement, brainstorming, Key Assumptions Check, deception detection, multiple hypotheses generation, Analysis of Competing Hypotheses (ACH), future indicators, and challenge analysis.
- Mitigate Analytic Bias & Clarify Assumptions
- Detect cognitive biases and hidden assumptions in your own and others’ reasoning.
- Develop strategies to challenge, refine, and document assumptions, improving analytic transparency.
- Strengthen Foresight & Analytic Resilience
- Develop indicators and signposts to track emerging developments and alternative futures.
- Use red-teaming and premortem techniques to anticipate failure points and strategic surprises.
Course Format
Over 5 days, Analysts Edge uses a progressive, hands-on format:
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Day 1: Course introduction, foundations of critical thinking, analytic bias & mindsets
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Day 2: Logical fallacies, the role of questions, introduction to structured analysis
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Day 3: Problem restatement, brainstorming, assumptions, deception detection
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Day 4: Generating multiple hypotheses, ACH, future indicators, challenge analysis, pros-cons-fixes
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Day 5: Capstone application: integrating techniques into a full written assessment
Each module combines short lectures, practical exercises, facilitated discussions, and scenario-driven applications that build toward the final capstone.
Capstone Assessment
There is no terminal written exam.
On Day 5, students complete a capstone exercise where they:
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Apply critical thinking frameworks and Structured Analytic Techniques
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Restate and refine a complex problem
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Generate and test multiple hypotheses
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Identify assumptions, biases, and potential deception
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Develop indicators and future-oriented perspectives
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Produce a rigorous, transparent written assessment aligned with ICD-203 standards
The capstone is evaluated on a Pass/Fail basis using a standardized rubric focused on analytic rigor, transparency, and tradecraft.
Requirements
Ideal participants should have:
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Experience in intelligence, operations, analysis, or related fields
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A need to produce or review analytic products for decision makers
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Willingness to examine and challenge their own thinking habits
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A laptop or device capable of accessing course materials and completing exercises
All scenarios, worksheets, and templates are provided.
Who Should Attend?
Analysts Edge is designed for:
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Intelligence analysts (all disciplines)
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Collection managers & targeting officers
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Operational planners and staff officers
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Supervisors and reviewers of analytic products
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Professionals transitioning into analytic roles who need a strong tradecraft foundation
If your role involves making sense of complex information, advising decision makers, or reviewing others’ analysis, this course will significantly enhance your effectiveness.
Why This Course Matters
In modern intelligence and security environments, speed is expected—but rigor is non-negotiable.
Analysts Edge helps professionals:
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Move beyond “gut feel” and habitual judgments
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Produce products that are transparent, testable, and defensible
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Detect and mitigate analytic bias before it undermines credibility
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Use structured methods to handle ambiguity and complexity
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Align everyday work with ICD-203 tradecraft standards
When the stakes are high, decision makers need analysis they can trust.
Analytic Edge gives you the tools, and the mindset, to deliver it.
For organizations purchasing this course, a minimum of 15 participants is required, with a maximum capacity of 25 participants.
