Weak Signals for Strategic Intelligence: Anticipation Tool for Managers

Chapter 4

Preparation of Weak Signals for Sessions in Collective Creation of Meaning: Applications

4.1. Introduction: two starting situations

Based on the previously presented applications, the reader will have observed that the session in collective creation of meaning (CCM) requires upstream preparation. Such upstream preparation is conducted, for example, by the animator of the “weak-signal-oriented process” within the enterprise. In particular, we have seen that the construction of a puzzle is carried out using very short information items called “news briefs”, likely to contain possible weak signals, which will then need to be interpreted.

Regarding the preparation of the news briefs, one of the following two situations may occur:

– The FULL text data was obtained manually by reading reports, proceedings, newspapers, etc. Such text documents have always been read by one or more people within the enterprise. In that case, the novelty lies in the fact that the reader needs to make an effort to identify, in the text being read, what might constitute a news brief bearing a possible weak signal. He/she must then indicate what they consider to be a news brief.

To that end, he/she could simply underline the text of the news brief with a marker, or else copy the news brief onto a file open for that purpose. The additional effort, relative to that person’s usual work, lies in the identification of news briefs. Little additional working time is required. However, the reader needs to ...