Psychology Of Intelligence Analysis

Psychology of Intelligence Analysis was written by Richards Heuer, a former CIA intelligence officer. While the book might sound like it’s only for those who want to work for the Intelligence Community (IC), this is a great book that I recommend everyone to read. You can buy the paperback or download it for free from several websites, including the CIA site. It’s a fairly short read at about 200 pages, but the info is dense, and will require multiple readings and a lot of dedicated practice to absorb.

The book is split into three parts - the first covers how the human brain receives information and what it does with it. The second covers tools you can used for your thinking, such as not taking in more information than is needed, structuring the information correctly, and studying all sides of a topic/event. The third part covers cognitive biases and how they affect a person’s ability to analyze information and think clearly.

Regardless of what you do for work, you would benefit from reading this book. You would improve your critical thinking skills and the methods you use to gather information and come to a conclusion - both of which are becoming more critical in the world.