SENIOR SEMINAR

Document Type: 
Collection: 
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
CIA-RDP80-00308A000100010012-4
Release Decision: 
RIPPUB
Original Classification: 
S
Document Page Count: 
7
Document Creation Date: 
December 9, 2016
Document Release Date: 
July 10, 2000
Sequence Number: 
12
Case Number: 
Content Type: 
MF
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PDF icon CIA-RDP80-00308A000100010012-4.pdf369.95 KB
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(~ i i-0j /~?~ jai .~ L - ~.; Approved For Lease 2002/05/02: CIA-RDP80-00308A=100010012-4 .? MEMORANDUM FOR: Executive Director-Comptroller 1. This Memorandum reports on the first running of the CIA Senior Seminar and requests in Paragraph 9 that you seek the Director's approval for continuing it. 2. In accordance with terms of the Director's Approval of my proposal for a Senior Seminar, pilot running was conducted from 19 September through 24 November and an extremely thorough evaluation of the Seminar was made as it proceeded and at its conclusion. Twenty officers of grades GS-15 through GS-18 were chosen by the Training Selection Board from a total of 35 nomi- nated from throughout the Agency. 3. The Seminar covered a variety of subjects which are directly -relevant to the activities, relationships, interests, policies, and problems of CIA. The specific content was based on discussions with scores of senior officers throughout the Agency and an investigation of the curricula of external courses to which we send senior officers. Its final format consisted of Blocks on "The Senior Agency Officer," "The Intelligence Business," "Major World Trends and-Their Significance for Policy and Intelligence," "Covert: Action: The Hidden Side of Foreign Policy," "The Environment of CIA: Official Relationships" followed by "Unofficial Relationships" (the latter incorporating presenta- tions on facets of the American domestic situation which bear directly on the Agency), "New Tools and Methodologies for Intelli- 25X1A genre," and "The Management of Intelligence and the Future." Three-day trips to optional installations of interest were taken by Seminar groups. 4. A total of 53 non-Agency and 99 Agency guest speakers and panelists accepted invitations to participate in the pilot running: a. Among the distinguished-non-government speakers were: A. Doak Barnett, Letitia Brown, Zbigniew Brzezinski, William Crockett, John K. Fairbank, Joseph Harsch, Herman Kahn, Foy Kohler, Peter Lisagor, Robert Osgood, Wesley Posvar, Charles Schultze, Max Ways and General Earle Wheeler; Approved For Release 2002/05/02 : CIA-RDP80-00308A000100010012-4 Approved For R grease 2002/05/02 : CIA-RDP80-00308At 100010012-4 b. From other parts of the government: William I. Cargo, Dr. Edward David, Philip Farley, Brigadier General Daniel Graham, U. Alexis Johnson, William B. Macomber, Jr., Congressman William E. Minshall, Deputy Assistant :secretary C. Robert Moore, Eberhardt Rechtin, Darrell St. Clair, Werner VonBraun, and others; Their presentations provided a stimulus throughout the Seminar's running for the participants to make full use of their own experi- ence, knowledge and judgment:s in lively exchanges both with guest speakers and with each other. 5. In evaluating the ;=seminar, the Senior Seminar Staff solicited -reactions of the participants to the value of the course as a whole for themselves and any future participants, as well as N suggestions on how to improve every part of the program throughout the running. Most of the 20 Seminar attendees affirmed in strong terms that participation will be valuable to them in their Agency jobs and expressed the hope that the Seminar be continued. 6. I was particularly interested in the participants' eval- uations of Senior Seminar Objective 3, concerning "self-renewal" and appreciation of the problems of others, of which here are two: a. "The Seminar fully achieved this objective for me. I came to the Seminar believing that this was one of its basic objec- tives, and I leave more convinced than ever that self-renewal is sufficient justification for the time and effort that went into the course. During the Seminar I was interested, stimulated, exhil- arated, and excited at times; depressed, angered, and frustrated at others. In short, the Seminar dragged me out of my usual pro- fessional mold and caused mE to think, to read, and to talk with more enthusiasm than I had for years. It was great!" b. "Many of the myths about the "other guy" were effec- tively dealt with during the course of the Seminar. I came away with a more respectful appreciation of Agency-level problem areas. Not only did the course provide an opportunity (for self-renewal) but in fact did renew my sense of personal motivation, appetite and commitment to the Agency's problem areas..." Approved For Release 2002/05/02 : CIA-RDP80-00308A000100010012-4 4rT Approved For Rase 2002/0M0'&? 1A-RDP80-00308AQ100010012-4 7., As might be expected in a first running, the Seminar Staff and participants did identify a number of "bugs" which should be eliminated and some areas requiring improvement, but these did not detract from the Seminar's generally excellent quality. The Staff has compiled all answers to the evaluation questions into a thick sheaf= which is available to anyone having a legitimate. interest. We will be glad to answer any further questions which the Director and yourself or other appropriate authority may have concerning all aspects of the Seminar. In the meantime, I solicit your attention to the attached memoranda voluntarily written by six participants. to their Office and Directorate. chiefs. To save you time, we are submitting these special memoranda rather than the thick sheaf we have assembled. Not all the evaluations are as flattering, but we are not aware of any participant going away disappointed. 8. I: concur fully in the judgments of the participants that the first Seminar running was successful and valuable, and believe that it demonstrates that this training experience for senior CIA officers represents an effective investment of funds, as well as of both Staff and participarn.ts' time. The nine and a half weeks of the Seminar covered a large amount and variety of material which bears directly on Agency concerns and interests', in contrast to less pertinent content tc which senior officers are exposed at some of the external training programs with sessions up to ten months. I believe that for the near future (i.e., at least through the end of FY 1973) the Senior Seminar should be scheduled for two. runnings a year -- a Spring and a Fall session. Following the Director's approval, we are prepared. to. begin the second running early in March.' Further, the program should follow the same guide- lines as to its overall content with attendance limited to 20. officers of minimum grade GS-l5; I would, however, hope that a larger number of more senior officers might attend. 9. On the basis of the above, I recommend that you ask the Director to approve the continuation of the Senior Seminar as a regular training program to. be conducted twice a year. HIJU T.. CUNNINGH Di:recto.r of Training Att: A/S Approved For Release 2002/05/02 : CIA-RDP80-00308A000100010012-4 A'+ R1 ECII Approved For lease 2002/0 ~ 41 -RDP80-00308 0100010012-4 U John W. C -c y Deputy Director for Support oZ Fix'-C? ~ ~ ~( Date The recommendation contained. in Paragraph 9 is approved by the Director. See memo dtd 7 January 197Z to DTR fr ExDir-Compt, subject: Senior Seminar. 71- G 3 ryL// L. K.. White Executive Director-Comptrol:Ler Distribution: 0 - Adse (w/att) (Ret to DTR via DD/S) 1 - ER (w/att) 2 - DD/S (w/att) 2 .- DTR (1 w/h) 2' SS/TR (w./h) Approved For Release 2002/05/02 : CIA-RDP80-00308A000100010012-4 UNCLASS ? I ERNAL ,moved Fo 21Q5102- (Io-RD I ROUTING AND RECORD SHEET SUBJECT: (Opnonol) Senior Seminar DTR 1026 CofC Bldg. TO .0".cer des,gnation, room number, and 6_ .J,^3i DDS 7D-26, 1lgs. ER 7E-12, 1-Igs. OFFCER'S INI FIALS ai 5. Ex.Dir.-Compt. 7D-59, Hqs. 6. "- DDS 7D-26, Hqs. 9? DTR 1026, CofC Bldg. Approved For Releas 2002/0 /02 : CI -RDP80- COMMENTS (Number each comment to show from whom to whom. Draw a line across column after each comment.) 5 to 1 and D/ OTR: I read this with some care and the Seminar does appear to have been a success. As you know, the Director was a little skeptical about this Seminar and I think will want to be assured that the Deputy Directors feel that it is worth the candle. In this connection, I get no feel at all for what the DDS&T or the DDP people think about the Seminar since none of the attached memoranda were from the partici- pants of those components. If you could flesh your summary memorandum out a bit to give us some feel as to what the partici- pants from the four Directorates think about the course, it would be helpful. I also think it would be worthwhile for me to see the thick sheaf" which you have assembled. FORM 610 USEDITONSUS SECRET ^ CONFIDENTIAL INTERNAL a-es USE ONLY ul~ ^ UNCLASSIFIED 11 Approved For1ease 2002/05/02: CIA-RDP80-003080 0001G&2_ VI/ Acting Ex. Dir-Compt. (Colby) called DDTR 29 October 1971 Colby: Understand you have courses in supervision at various levels. Question is whether we include that sort of function in things like MEDC and Senior Seminar. DDTR: They do have problems of Management in-the MEDC and they take the Grid at the beginning for a week. In Senior Seminar there is a block on management problems in !_ ie Agency. Colby: Management and supervisio:r really aren't the good words--the best word is leadership. The officers all have totally different styles... might have some impact on the younger ones. DDTR: It is a big problem and it Lccomes very apparent in the Grid when they try to analyze those aspects that seem to be bottlenecks to our efficiency. They come up with how can you grapple with it when there is no Agency style. They have asked Mr. Helms, what is your style and he finds it hard to answer that h.ehas -.any style. We are in the process of running one and two day seminars on such things as problem solving, use of the efficiency reports, and problem people. We have a long way to go in really finding an honest to god effective instrument in teaching leadership based on. Agency style. That is in some part why our Advanced Planning and Management Course has not been as effective as it could be because it borrows from outside the Agency. Colby: Don't want-you to do any bit exercise but it kind of bugs me and I wondered if I could do anything to hy!lp. Sort of critical-.the attitude and style of our middle level people they will become stuffy bureaucrats or keep an open and swinging attitud.:~ to the p;L'oblems we are faced with. DDTR: Why don't we tell you where we are aud/m Tc cxwe are trying to cope with the problem. One of the things that has been bugging us and has been such an influence is sensitivity type training in the management field and we have almost concluded that that is not the solution to management problems. You have to have people that converse with each other candidly but you still have to know the mechanism of the problem itself, but solving the people problem is not solving the work prol,lem. Colby: You trigger something else in my mind as to the degree we are ,. ';. training our older people who have grown up in the liberal arts culture and that is not to be afraid of the machines. There is a visible reaction on some of our parts to the new machines--that is wrong.- We have to adapt. 25X1A DDTR: I was asking that very question ~estcrday of Chief of our Support School --arlflp to the rimes? Are we doing enough in teaching Approved For Release 2002/05/02: CIA-RDP80-00308A00010001 Q012-4t tr Approved For Remise 2002/05/02 : CIA-RDP80-00308AQA+0100010012-4 people about the computers in this Agency? The answer is that we can't focus on an honest requirement for more computer training for the average guy, because he doesn't have much more of a comet than reading a computer list. Colby: I asked Briggs to put into a paper that we have to do this. One of the ways to overcome resistance is to integrate the unpopular course into the popular one. You can integrate it into something like the MEDC and they will go in droves and if you offer it separately they will stay away. DDTR: The only times we are successful in getting people to go to courses, is if they are popular ones. Colby: The only concern I have about the MEDC courses is whether they become current events discussion groups. It is good, but you have to put a certain percentage of time on the nuts and bolts too, to teach our people to operate in the modern world. DDTR: We have been talking abot.t this in our Curriculum Council meetings. We will put together a paper for you. Approved For Release 2002/05/02 CIA-RDP80-00308A000100010012-4