ATWJE - Martin Petersen - The Fixer

Episode: 00158 Released on May 8, 2023
Description: Martin Petersen has over 50 years of law enforcement analysis experience, 33 of which were with the CIA where he spent most of his career as a Senior Intelligence Officer and retired as the Deputy Executive Director. After retirement, he worked for the government contractor SAIC that became Leidos before opening his own consulting firm where he provides intelligence training and special projects consultation related to government, military, and law enforcement among others. This week’s episode is a bit different as we won’t be going through how Martin started his career as he has already done that in another episode (link below). Instead, we will be focusing on his experience working with analysts, performing analytical functions himself, and developing analyst training programs to foster future leaders – in addition to how he got the nickname, “the fixer.” Martin is a strong supporter and advocate for analysts and data-driven approaches, and walks us through how he developed his training program and the beneficial results it had on the agency. Martin is currently President and CEO of M. Petersen Consulting, LLC where he continues to provide training, consulting, attends conferences and events as a guest speaker, and has published multiple books and articles for the intelligence community. 

CHALLENGE: There are Easter eggs in one of the tables of the Excel chapter that Jason wrote for the IACA textbook. First-person to email us at [email protected] about what the Easter eggs are will receive a $20 gift card from us. Happy hunting!

Name Drops: David Cariens (00:02:24), John McLaughlin (00:05:12)

Public Service Announcements:
Scott Eicher (https://www.leapodcasts.com/e/scott-eicher-the-cellular-analysis-sme/)
Dr. Leigh Ann Perry (https://www.leapodcasts.com/e/atwje-dr-leigh-ann-perry-the-law-enforcement-analysis-researcher/) 

Related Links:
Spycast Episode:  https://thecyberwire.com/podcasts/spycast/480/notes
Intelligence Matters Episode (also includes graduate speech) https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/declassified-martin-petersen-on-the-tiananmen-crisis/id1286906615?i=1000484983789
Leading Analysts:  https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/DOC_0000947692.pdf 

https://www.cia.gov/resources/csi/studies-in-intelligence/volume-55-no-1/what-i-learned-in-40-years-of-doing-intelligence-analysis-for-us-foreign-policymakers/
David Cariens’s Episode:  https://www.leapodcasts.com/e/atwje-david-cariens-the-analysis-writer/ 

Association(s) Mentioned: 

Vendor(s) Mentioned: 

Contact: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martin-petersen-38a96569/ 

Transcript: https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/nr3miv/MartinPetersen_transcript.pdf 

Podcast Writer: Mindy Duong

Podcast Researcher: 

Theme Song: Written and Recorded by The Rough & Tumble. Find more of their music at www.theroughandtumble.com.

Logo: Designed by Kyle McMullen. Please visit www.moderntype.com for any printable business forms and planners. 

Podcast Email: [email protected]  

Podcast Webpage: www.leapodcasts.com  

Podcast Twitter: @leapodcasts

YouTube Version: https://youtu.be/GbQhw-j8lKs

00:00:17 – Introducing Martin
00:01:43 – Becoming the Fixer
00:12:12 – Creating a Win-Win
00:21:04 – Issue 1:  Standards in LEA
00:31:32 – Break: Scott Eicher & Dr. Leigh Ann Perry
00:32:50 – Issue 2:  Product Mentality
00:38:33 – Issue 3:  LEA are Spread Thin and Not Focused
00:46:02 – Issue 4:  Too Few Sources
00:49:35 – Personal Interest:  Writing Spy Novel
00:51:53 – Words to the World