© OutreachU, ltd.
ISSUE 14
I COULD NOT HELP MYSELF
The illustration of the film noir spy gathering intel is something I simply could not resist. Yet, how often are we making decisions or taking Outreach actions based on “intel,” rumors or non-verified information? How often are we being impacted and distracted by disruptions brewing and escalating because of hearsay about what a rival organization might do? A move they may make, a new location in our territory that they may dare to enter or occupy. Do you currently utilize a systematized intelligence process for your Outreach to filter and limit the noise and disruptions – if not bad decisions – that not having one can cause?
WHAT REAL INTEL OPERATIONS DO
When our firm was alerted to how much chaos that rumors caused, especially related to where rival Air Medical Transport providers would be locating or relocating helicopter bases – we had to take action to constrain this. What transpired was deep research into how actual intelligence operators and organizations conduct their tradecraft. Some of this involved speaking with our contacts in special operations, security, and intelligence-centric organizations.
After consolidating our findings we realized that most intelligence gathering and analyzing entities used a 5-step sequence. We designed and trademarked ours as, ADAII ™. In THE BOOK OF OUTREACH FOR HEALTHCARE, this process is defined in detail, however, for the purpose of this article – just knowing the sequence can help you conduct more effective Outreach and especially help you to better manage vast amounts of wasted resources if reacting to rumors without a methodology to filter these.
CONTEXT | MAYBE EVEN A WARNING
Before elaborating on ADAII ™, it’s important to know that this process is not going to provide you know-how to match the sophisticated apparatus of full-scale intelligence organizations. But you will, at minimum now have guidance and a routine that will filter and, in some instances, stop in its trajectory, rumors or nefarious information that often wastes time and causes interference with the important Outreach efforts you are trying to execute with maximum effectiveness and positive impact.
WHAT YOUR OUTREACH OPERATORS NEED TO DO
Here are the five steps before some basic elaboration.
ACQUIRE 🡪 You must have a well-defined, synchronized and coordinated system to acquire / gather intelligence 🡪 In person – individual trusted contacts [informants/agents] – phone – e.mail – traditional media – professional journals – Internet, blogs, podcasts, social media outlets, pending legislation, minutes of official “sunshine” meetings, etc. Of course, most recently, Artificial Intelligence (AI) platforms can be remarkable at triaging and fact-finding.
DELIVER 🡪 You must have a well-defined, synchronized and coordinated system to deliver/convey intelligence 🡪 CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software like SalesNexus SalesNexus CRM & Email – SalesNexus, is ideal. This makes your information available and accessible to key individuals that need to know and need to analyze this.
ACCEPT (FILTER) 🡪 You must have a well-defined, synchronized and coordinated system to Accept/Filter intelligence to determine if information goes forward or not. Source Security (Is it from a reliable source?) Do we trust this source? Is it verified (Ideally by more than one trusted source) What is the intent? (e.g., could this be intentional error-based-information from a rival, biased or angry party – etc.). What is our filtering check list to verify? How do we rule out / rule in? Are you allowing somebody to enter your decision-making cycle to disrupt and deflect your intended path and progress?
INTERPRET 🡪 You must have a well-defined, synchronized and coordinated system of interpretation. How do you factor implications? Will it change anything? How? What scenarios might unfold? Create “What If Scenarios” (USE 🡪 the PrOACT-URL process from Smart Choices: A Practical Guide to Making Better Decisions Authors: John S. Hammond, Ralph L. Keeney, and Howard Raiffa
Original Publication: 1998 by Harvard Business School Press; later reprinted [e.g., 2002, 2015]) What are our countermeasures? (Back Up Plan 1, 2 & 3)
IMPLEMENT 🡪 IF YOU DEEM IT WORTHY – THEN 🡪 EXECUTE using the ThinkThroughTools’ EXPECTool ™ 🡪 Then Monitor 🡪 Measure 🡪 Adapt 🡪 RE-EXECUTE.
Just keep in mind – often the most effective action is no action. Protect your scarce Outreach resources!
BE IN TOUCH
Please be in contact about what you and your organization or company are doing to effectively manage rumors and hearsay. e.mail [email protected]
To learn more about the book, the online course, and
the Healthcare Outreach Practitioner LEVEL I Credential
go to
or email [email protected]
© OutreachU, ltd. PRESS, ThinkThroughTools, LLC, all rights reserved
Richard M. Obertots, MBA, NREMT-P (ret.) is CEO/Drummer of ThinkThroughTools, LLC. & OutreachU, ltd., based in Canfield, Ohio, USA. He has 45 + years’ experience in EMS, air medical transport and critical care healthcare. He began as a Nationally Registered Paramedic, then Hospital EMS/Trauma Coordinator and Financial Analyst. Rich has instructed full-time at the University level and been a non-stop business creator and owner for more than five decades. He and his companies have operated in nearly every state of the USA, and he’s had numerous healthcare business endeavors throughout Australia and Canada. All of these involved designing and implementing healthcare Outreach Operating Systems, methods and supporting software.
He is the author of THE BOOK OF OUTREACH for HEALTHCARE; How to Grow Revenue by Astonishing the Right Customers Consistently, the newest edition scheduled for limited release later in 2025. He can be reached at [email protected] 330.623.5910.
