…or did they?
Where we live in Cape Town, we’re surrounded by houses. And, somewhere in this maze of walled dwellings live no less than 3 cats. There’s two black ones, and there’s one that’s kinda grey/brown.
All of them think our yard is the best place in the world to play, hunt…and, not so occasionally, walk through the beams that set off the alarm at 3am—just to make sure that we know they’ve come by for a visit.
Which brings me to this evening. Today, we started the day with Stage 2 load shedding, so we were already without power from 10:00 to 12:30, and then at 4pm, they announced we’d been shifted to Stage 4, which is 3x per day for 2.5 hrs at a time. The first impact of Stage 4 was from 6:00 to 8:30.
So…as I was sitting there in the dwindling twilight, just listening to what was happening around me, watching the reflection of the sky on the pool, sipping a Checker’s Odd Bins “Red Blend” selection, and trying to think about how I was going to get the rest of everything done for the year, what did I discover?
Yep. Just like the song…the cat came back.
And, in particular, it was that grey/brown one that kinda looks like a Persian, but with a slimmer build. A friend told me what kind it was, but I actually don’t remember.
But here I was, sitting in the chair, and this interloping kitty comes up, and starts rubbing against my chair…pushing at my hands…rubbing under my legs, which were propped up nicely on the stone bench of the table supporting the garden Bhudda.
I mean, I tried to ignore it (I’ve actually not looked to figure out if it’s a boy or girl)…
…but here it was.
And it wandered towards the open office door…
“Skkktttttt!” I said.
And it walked back under the table.
Then it rubbed under my legs again.
I ignored it.
Then it went INTO the open office door.
“Get outta there!” I scolded.
And out it came, back under my legs, and trying to coax me into petting it by standing on it’s hind legs and pushing its head into my hand.
So…what do you think happened?
Yeah. Eventually…I ended up petting the stupid cat. The cat that sets off the alarm. The cat that doesn’t seem to have a home, and thinks that our flower beds are its personal litter box.
That same damn cat. And I’m sitting there, trying to think about all the stuff I have to do to promote the course…to do follow ups…to finish the content for the book.
And I end up petting the cat.
Moral of the story?
Well, there’s more than one security architect I know who should take a few lessons from that damn cat!
In the song, the chorus goes like this:
But the cat came back, he couldn’t stay no longer,
Yes, the cat came back the very next day,
the cat came back—thought she was a goner,
But the cat came back, for it wouldn’t stay away.
Now, what we’re talking about is the characteristic – dare I say “attribute” – called persistence. And it’s an attribute that the successful security architect has in spades—not to mention the successful security leader of an effective security program.
However, in some of the conversations I had, and for plenty of logical reasons, some of the architects I talk to about building their architecture skills…
…they just don’t keep coming back.
Whether it’s trying to practice a framework, or building a new type of artifact—or especially engaging with business stakeholders. It just isn’t consistent, and the persistence required to fundamentally change your approach to security architecture…
…just goes on holiday or something.
Now, I can’t promise I can teach you persistence, but what I can teach you is the easiest way I’ve found in 14 years of doing security architecture with SABSA – including leading the transformation programs of security teams topping over 100 people – to actually take all that wonderful sounding theory, and turn it into practical, value-driven, decision-driving security architecture that’s etched into the brains of the entire cross-functional security and technology delivery team.
I’m sure that given enough time, you could likely come up with something better….or at least, just as good and effective.
But my question is: do you have the time?
Followed by: do you have the persistence to keep trying—even in the face of no support, major setbacks, pissed-off business stakeholders and pressure to “just follow best practice,” that I’m sure all of have faced at some point or another.
If you’d like to get access to the shortcut to building effective security architectures that truly enable and protect your organizations at the speed of the modern business,
then go ahead and check out the description of the upcoming February cohort of our flagship, online training experience, Building Effective Security Architectures. It’s about applying The Agile Security System™ in practice – and as quickly as possible – to “accidentally” create full-blown SABSA security architectures—faster than you can slip through an open office door in the dark.
If it sounds intriguing – and you’re ready to be persistent – then here’s the link:
Until next Friday, you can save 60% off the full enrollment rate, so if you’ve been trying to “up your game” as far as security architecture…
…and you haven’t given up yet…
…then maybe this is the right option for you. If it is, why not get in early and save a shed-load of budget?
Stay safe,
ast
—
Andrew S. Townley
Archistry Chief Executive.
