Guest Overview 

Former CIA Deputy Director of Intelligence, Carmen Medina is a veteran of the Intelligence Community, she is also the author of Rebels at Work: A Handbook for Leading Change from Within.

Puerto Rican born, to a fun-loving father and an achievement-driven mother, Carmen excelled through an itinerant childhood to lead school debating teams. Her forensic debating skills and serendipity led her to a University scholarship and ultimately set her on her path to a 32-year career in the CIA.

In Part two we discuss her perspective on power, the current state of the world and her hope for the future. We also cover the role of curiosity and creativity in her work at the CIA, applying empathy to be heard by policy and decision-makers in today’s polarized political environment. And finally, we end with her life insights as she answers our quick-fire questions. 

I hope you enjoy this refreshing and fun episode and learn from the kindness, reflective wisdom, and optimism of Carmen Medina. 

Thanks to Munish Walther Puri for the connection.

What we Discuss 

 The role of curiosity and creativity in her role as an analyst

 Her curiosity in soft power over hard power 

Her prediction that peace would happen without violence 

The brittleness of power 

The evolution of the CIA’s intelligence on how societies work

Embracing cognitive bias

Dealing With Trump 

Her optimism and how reading a book called Complexity changed her perspective 

Her perspective on the world 

What if the Romans had discovered the Internet and Electricity?

Carmen’s view on talking truth to power

Respecting decision makers cognitive style and personality and providing a broader context so they listen, and in a framework, they appreciate 

The role of empathy 

Her Principles 

Inequality of opportunity 

Expecting and demanding failure 

Taking ownership of your impossible 

Social Links 

Rebels at Work

LinkedIn

Twitter

Links In The Show 

Olive Shriner 

Argo

Zero Dark Thirty 

Zanu PF 

Bob Gates 

Iran US Embassy

Complexity Mitch Walthrop

Browser Newsletter 

FW de Klerke 

Steve Blank 

James C Scott Two Cheers For Anarchism 

Don Burke CIA

Babylon Berlin 

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