Army veteran, John Watson Allison, discusses effective intelligence assessment, how it is carried out, why we need it, what can go wrong and much more. Drawing on his 24 year military career, historical events from WW2, modern day counter-terrorism operations and the 2003 war in Iraq, John highlights lessons learnt, plus several key themes of utility, for our lives today and in the future. John served for 24 years with the Royal Engineers and latterly the Intelligence Corps. He specialised in Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD), Counter-Terrorist Search and weapons intelligence. He’s the author of “Terrorist Weapons and Technology,” in Combatting Terrorism in Northern Ireland and “Innovation and the Improvised Explosive Device,” in Understanding Terrorist Innovation and Learning. While still retained as a weapons intelligence consultant, John now utilises his life experience by predominantly supporting others dealing with challenging times, via his wellbeing and coaching service, Motion to Mind™. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx