During issue development, what do you do when you don't have an intelligence question?

During issue development, what do you do when you don't have an intelligence question?

• A. Gather data relevant to potential topics.
• B. Start with understanding the client's requirements to identify relevant topics, issues, and intelligence gaps, that break down into specific questions that can be analyzed.
• C. Immediately draft a question.
• D. Skip to production.

Answer: (B)

When you don’t have an intelligence question, begin by clarifying what the client needs and where information is lacking. This means understanding the client’s requirements and identifying relevant topics, issues, and intelligence gaps, then breaking those gaps down into specific, answerable questions that can be analyzed. This approach keeps the work focused on decision-maker needs and provides a clear path for data collection and analysis. Why this fits best: starting from the client’s requirements ensures the investigation stays aligned with what matters most to decision-makers, and it creates a structured way to translate gaps into concrete questions that guide analysis. It prevents wandering into topics that aren’t useful or actionable and sets up a reproducible process for gathering and evaluating evidence. Why the other approaches don’t fit as well: gathering data without a defined question can lead to unfocused or irrelevant material; drafting a question too early skips the essential step of grounding that question in client needs and gaps; and jumping straight to production bypasses the necessary scoping and analytic planning, risking incomplete or misaligned deliverables.

When you don’t have an intelligence question, begin by clarifying what the client needs and where information is lacking. This means understanding the client’s requirements and identifying relevant topics, issues, and intelligence gaps, then breaking those gaps down into specific, answerable questions that can be analyzed. This approach keeps the work focused on decision-maker needs and provides a clear path for data collection and analysis.

Why this fits best: starting from the client’s requirements ensures the investigation stays aligned with what matters most to decision-makers, and it creates a structured way to translate gaps into concrete questions that guide analysis. It prevents wandering into topics that aren’t useful or actionable and sets up a reproducible process for gathering and evaluating evidence.

Why the other approaches don’t fit as well: gathering data without a defined question can lead to unfocused or irrelevant material; drafting a question too early skips the essential step of grounding that question in client needs and gaps; and jumping straight to production bypasses the necessary scoping and analytic planning, risking incomplete or misaligned deliverables.