Intent Analysis | Cats do it... you can do it better!

I was working with a my colleagues on a capability review for our company. At one point the discussion turned to the aspect of analyzing an authors ‘intent' behind a statement, an email, a tweet - any communication or expression. The word ‘Intent’ it turns out came with some baggage. A bit dated, but some of the baggage had echos of the pre-crime division in the movie Minority Report - if taken with a dose of fantasy, it could be confused for a crystal ball and magic. Further discussion and banter in our group revealed a simple insight that I’d like to share.

Intent Analysis is NOT magic.

The insight came from my 8th grade science teacher. To differentiate Speed and Velocity my teacher, Mr. Singh, had defined the velocity (speed & direction) of a baseball as it’s ‘intent’!… and given the example of a cat getting ready to pounce on a scurrying mouse. The cat observes the Speed & Direction of a mouse. From that it knows where the mouse came from and where it’s likely to go. In other words, the cat observes the ‘intent' of the mouse to decide it’s next action. This analogy gives us a starting point for a new look at ‘intent’ and ‘intent analysis’

Intent = Speed & Direction

Intent Analysis = Informed guesses about where someone or something came from and where it’s likely to go

I’m still letting this simmer! Whether it rings true or not in a few days - don’t know. For now it sure seems useful. Observations of the speed & direction of one's motivations, thoughts and behaviors in the present moment holds the promise of informing us about past journeys and future trajectories - and that’s kinda cool!

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