lulutraining

After washing out of the CIA, this pup needs new skills

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We all have outsized dreams of maximizing our potential and sometimes we shoot for the stars and miss. Such was the case of Lulu, the would-be explosives-sniffing dog for the Central Intelligence Agency.

In the agency’s most recent “Pupdate,” Lulu’s all-too-brief career on the front lines in the war on terror came to an end before she had a chance to begin.  “We are sad to announce that Lulu has been dropped from the program,” the agency wrote on its website.

The black Labrador, who was a promising candidate from the start to be chosen for such a prestigious program soon reverted to her natural ways after about a few weeks of training.

“Lulu began to show signs that she wasn’t interested in detecting explosive odors. All dogs, just like most human students, have good days and bad days when learning something new. The same is true during our puppy classes. A pup might begin acting lazy, guessing where the odors are, or just showing a general disregard for whatever is being taught at the moment. Usually it lasts for a day, maybe two,” says the CIA.

The agency, which in the fictional world produced meaningful out of the mentally-unstable agent Carrie in the television series Homeland, somehow couldn’t get Lulu motivated to work. They tried all the tricks, but couldn’t get it done.

“Even when they could motivate her with food and play to search, she was clearly not enjoying herself any longer,” the CIA says, “Our trainers’ top concern is the physical and mental well-being of our dogs, so they made the extremely difficult decision to do what’s best for Lulu and drop her from the program.”

Lulu in retirement. Photo – CIA website

Lulu’s story won’t involve her sniffing out that next unattended package, but she’ll get a life of contentment at the home of one of the training program’s handlers. She’ll have to learn the basics of being a dog: sit, stay, bark. But we hope that she’ll work beyond her initial training and build from that valuable experience.

To continue following the journey of the other dogs in the CIA training program, click here.

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Dana Beth Ardi

Executive Committee

Dana Beth Ardi, PhD, Executive Committee, is a thought leader and expert in the fields of executive search, talent management, organizational design, assessment, leadership and coaching. As an innovator in the human capital movement, Ardi creates enhanced value in companies by matching the most sought after talent with the best opportunities. Ardi coaches boards and investors on the art and science of building high caliber management teams. She provides them with the necessary skills to seek out and attract top-level management, to design the ideal organizational architectures and to deploy people against strategy. Ardi unearths the way a business works and the most effective way for people to work in them.

Ardi is an experienced business executive and senior consultant who leverages business organizational transformation through talent strategies. She uses her knowledge and experience to develop talent strategies to enhance revenue and profit contributions. She has a deep expertise in change management and organizational effectiveness and has designed and built high performance cultures. Ardi has significant experience in mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, IPO’s and turnarounds.

Ardi is an expert on the multi-generational workforce. She understands the four intersecting generations of workers coming together in contemporary companies, each with their own mindsets, leadership and communications styles, values and motivations. Ardi is sought after to assist companies manage and thrive by bringing the generations together. Her book, Fall of the Alphas: How Beta Leaders Win Through Connection, Collaboration and Influence, will be published by St. Martin’s Press. The book reflects Ardi’s deep expertise in understanding organizations and our changing society. It focuses on building a winning culture, how companies must grow and evolve, and how talent influences and shapes communities of work. This is what she has coined “Corporate Anthropology.” It is a playbook on how modern companies must meet challenges – culturally, globally, digitally, across genders and generations.

Ardi is currently the Managing Director and Founder of Corporate Anthropology Advisors, LLC, a consulting company that provides human capital advisory and innovative solutions to companies building value through people. Corporate Anthropology works with organizations, their cultures, the way they grow and develop, and the people who are responsible for forming their communities of work.

Prior to her position at Corporate Anthropology Advisors, Ardi served as a Partner/Managing Director at the private equity firms CCMP Capital and JPMorgan Partners. She was a partner at Flatiron Partners, a venture capital firm working with early state companies where she pioneered the human capital role within an investment portfolio.

Ardi holds a BS from the State University of New York at Buffalo as well as a Masters degree and PhD from Boston College. She started her career as professor at the Graduate Center at Fordham University in New York.