In the corporate world, detecting risk is oftentimes easier than getting an organization’s executive team to take that risk seriously and ultimately act on mitigating the threat. The challenge of being a corporate Cassandra is analogous to the mythological Greek goddess who was the daughter of Priam, the last king of Troy. A love interest of the god Apollo, he promised Cassandra the gift of prophecy if she would only succumb to his carnal desires. She agreed to the bargain and was granted the gift but promptly rebuffed Apollo’s advances. As punishment, Apollo decreed that although Cassandra would indeed receive the power of prophecy, none of them would ever be believed, which was unfortunate since her first vision — the fall of Troy — went unheeded.
Whether it be a corporate boardroom or a State Department’s war room, risk analysis and business intelligence are only as good as the intention of those who choose to embrace them. That is the premise of Richard A. Clarke, the former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence for President Ronald Reagan, the Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs under President George H.W. …
