Nope, I don't need my eyes checked

While working on a couple things this week, and I was reminded of a very important technical tenet in forensics that I realized applied to leadership very well: looking at things with different viewers can reveal things you didn't see before.  My thoughts came to light today as my husband and I took a quiet hike out in the beautiful weather we are having in Arizona right now.

We were just about to turn around when I peeked over the next gate we'd have to go through had we decided to go ahead.  I saw something that made me think I was hallucinating: water! (For those of you not in Arizona, this is an odd thing to come across while hiking in the forest.)  We forged ahead a little ways to see a beautiful pool of water in a field of grass.  The extra look and effort made it worth the entire hike.

How does this apply to forensics?  More importantly, how does it apply to leadership in Infosec?  Well, in forensics, if you look at a file in two different viewers, oftentimes you'll see new snippets of data that you didn't see in both viewers, just the one.  If I hadn't peered down the hiking path today to see what may lay ahead, I might have missed something that was well worth my time.  The same in any of our leader roles: take the time, make the effort, look at things from different angles.  You never know what you may find...or may have missed by giving up too early.

Oftentimes, we fight long hard battles up impossible hills in our field.  If we all take a second look, through a different viewer, that little bit of extra effort may let us see something we missed.  More importantly, that could lead us to a better, more effective path.  Take a moment on this long holiday weekend (or after!) and do just that.  What do you see?

Stabilizing change

"It would be all so easy if you had a map to the maze."  Remember 'Who moved my cheese?' by Spencer Johnson?  Yes, well we don't exactly have a map to our work mazes, and neither do our teams.  As I reflect on this topic, I thought I'd share my thoughts on how we as leaders can help to stabilize change.

I know that this title is counter-intuitive, but as infosec leaders and as professionals, we should be considering this every day.  Not only is it important to our selves to be able to navigate change,  but we need to navigate and lead through change with our teams, our partners and our management.  Bear with me as I walk through my thought process.

Change will happen.  For some of us, it happens a lot more than we can really keep up with.  One thing we have to keep in mind as we navigate the change: "for those who found their way, the maze held secrets that let them enjoy a better life" (Johnson).  I have seen changes handled in many different ways, handled better in some cases over others, even when the change happened to myself.  Here are some thoughts:

1) Communicate, participate in communication, reflect and then communicate some more.  As change is taking place, its important that you not only are communicated to so that you as a leader and individual know what is going on, but you need to be able to plan out how to best implement this change within your teams.  Which leads me to:

2) Plan how to implement the change.  Teams need some structure to weather the change.  Have a plan as soon a possible, even if it's: don't change what you are doing until we have a better plan.

3) Try to understand how change is affecting each of your team members.  I have underestimated or guessed wrong many times about how folks will take change, so don't assume.  Go right to them and have an open conversation.

4) Make yourself available.  Don't hide in your office while this is happening, even if its having a big affect on you too.  Being visible in times of change is the best and right time to be visible.

Can you be good at changing?  Maybe you can.  What you can be good at is rolling with the change and embracing it.  You never know what kind of good secrets will come out of your path through the maze.