Knowing everything about everything
Jan 23rd, 2011 by Jesper Kråkhede
Even I go on vacations sometimes. This year I was away diving and as any diver I take good care of my gear meaning that I carry my regulator in my hand luggage to make sure it arrives fully functional. I do have to trust my life with it.
However, carrying it through security check is always a challenge especially if you encounter personnel with no knowledge of diving gear. To cut the story short I was asked to dismantle my regulator as it obviously was filled with illegal substances as I could not breathe through it when requested. As all divers know, you shouldn´t be able to breathe through it when it´s not connected to a tank. Gladly the security guard´s manager was a diver and let me through with a perfectly functional regulator.
Taking a step back to the corporate world we are met with a humongous complexity and in that mesh working with security means that you need to everything about everything. Failing in understanding means that you will be met with disrespect and viewed upon as a road block and something that needs to be handled instead of being seen as an important contributor to the company.
The biggest question is of course how you address this task as it is few that have the capability to know everything. The answer is of course security architecture and patterns. However, security architecture is so much more than just understanding the infrastructure solutions that could solve a problem. It is way more important to understand and be able to work with changes in the way the company work (processes), change information in itself and to understand how to make changes in the automation of a process. When you clearly have identified the problem it is so much easier to apply the right pattern to the right part of the architecture.
Grasping this and still try to learn as much you can about different topics will help you to evolve security to become a game changer within your organization. Effective use of a team with broad knowledge will help you achieve this much easier. And most importantly, you will not be the one harassing an innocent diver with your lack of knowledge and understanding.
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Ed Bellis, Auspicatus. Auspicatus said: @ebellis http://j.mp/eN1dbR <- Understanding is 10%. Ability to explain to wide variety of people and patience – what comprises the rest 90. […]