As I write this, it’s lashing rain here in Maceio, and that means today is DEFINITELY not a beach day. And that’s almost disappointing because there’s only a few more days before we head home from our extended holiday.
And I say “almost” because, even if it WAS a beach day, I don’t have my homework done, so I can’t go out and play anyway.
But being aware of that thought process was what prompted today’s email.
I want to ask you about your habits.
So, in this case, what I mean by “when it rains” is: what do you choose to do when someone’s not standing over you with a stick…or a looming deadline…or an urgent threat response?
If you don’t ever have a “rainy day” at work, then that’s a whole different class of problems for another day.
But what I’m asking you about is whether you have a set of habits that help you work towards your goals every day…
…or do your habits have you checking your LinkedIn and Twitter feeds looking for something interesting…or maybe just reading (or sending) emails that aren’t actually critical…
…like all the ones where you’re just cc’d in a CYA move, but which aren’t really details you need to know about.
I’ve started to think a lot more about habits lately—especially the kinds of habits that underpin an effective security program. Because it’s habits,
…not processes or procedures
…not knowledge
…not skills
…and not even training per se
…that really determines the ultimate success or failure of anyone in pursuing a goal.
For example, it’s the habit of writing that separates professional writers from the wanna-be, head-in-the-clouds, dreamer types who WISH they were writers—but who’ve never written anything.
However, a professional writer, well…writes. And they don’t sit around, waiting for inspiration to hit them when they’re stuck. They’ve made writing a habit.
They write something on that page—even if it’s the copyright notice, or their name, or maybe even a single sentence.
They do this because they know, in the immortal words of Everlast:
“If it ain’t never started then it can’t be done.”
So, one of the biggest open secrets of a truly effective security program is that the team has developed the habit of architecture.
The habit that means that everything they do is tied to the architecture…
…the habit that means when they see something not quite right with the architecture, they fix it so that everyone else down the road will see that same benefit
…the habit that means taking the time to fill in one of the blanks of that enterprise security architecture outline that’s sitting there in the architecture backlog because you know that if you invest the time today to flesh out the picture just a little bit more…
…you will need it later
…or it’ll give you a new insight
…or it’ll give you a new opportunity to give more value to your customers.
Or, I guess you could just go get a coffee, sit around and have a chat with your colleagues about the scary state of the world
…or go see what kinds of animal videos are in your LinkedIn feed
…or fire a few shots in whatever current my-tool/process/worldview-is-better-than-yours war happens to pop up first in your Twitter feed.
It’s really up to you.
However, if you want to know some critical habits that will dramatically improve the effectiveness of your security program and the way you communicate the value of what you do to everyone, not just the executives and the Board,
Then I highly suggest you head over to this link right now:
And subscribe for my new, paid, delivered-to-your-door newsletter before the August issue goes to the printer at the end of the month.
This month provides an end-to-end system for delivering truly agile security to your organization, and if you miss it, it will never be available for purchase as a back issue.
Stay safe,
ast
—
Andrew S. Townley
Archistry Chief Executive
P.S. Here’s something you can do if you liked today’s post: you can sign up for those daily emails that annoying pop-up keeps asking you about. Or, if you want to know more about what you’re going to get if you do and how it works, then just go knock on the front door: https://archistry.com and you’ll get the whole deal.
Or…you can just keep reading the blog, or ignore me and Archistry all together. I’m good either way.
