Driving change with vision
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Thestory of VaccinateCAis a fascinating one: a small volunteer group that came together, not to do anything other than a form of information arbitrage: finding out where Covid vaccineswere, and getting that knowledge to the people who wanted to know (so that they could move the vaccine from a needle into their body). I’m not going to try to summarize all of the details of the story (read it, it’s fascinating), but what struck me was how laser-focused on solving one problem the VaccinateCA team was:
The VaccinateCA team didn’t provide any of the four. What they focused on, though, was specifically that outcome: How many times a day could those four things come together, and how could they help? Their story wanders through all the myriad roadblocks that spring up almost accidentally in any large bureaucratic and logistical process, especially one with so many distinct participants. But their singular vision of helping maximize shots into arms put them in a place to lead the state of California entirely from the sidelines, with no granted authority other than their own will.
One of the hardest development challenges is getting experience to members of your teambeforea promotion, especially when access to that experience is only allowed to people already in a certain role. How will a manager ever be ready to be a director if they aren’t allowed into a VP’s staff meeting where only directors are allowed?
Start bringing along shadows. Whenyougo present on a topic in a restricted room, bring along someone to watch and learn. If your peers frown on doing this for job training, give the person a role. They can be your expert on the topic, or they’re your note-taker for the day. But make it a practice to give your team experience in “the room where it happens” by having them be your shadow from time to time.
People often confusevisionwithmission. To me, mission is what you’ll achieve, and vision tells you who you’ll be when you get there. Along the way to achieving your mission-goals, you’ll be presented with many choices, each taking different paths that you hope will get you to the right place. Traveling along each of those paths will change who you’ll become. Vision helps you pick between paths, avoiding ones that don’t align with how you see yourself. Do you see yourself as a servant leader? Putting that in your vision helps you avoid paths that might focus on results over people.
Last week, I wrote an oped arguing the theNational Cybersecurity Strategy’s proposal to modify software liabilitywould do more harm than good.
Giving a slightly longer future view out for folks who might want to join some of these events. Slightly new format to condense the information; drop me a comment if you prefer one type or the other.
March 14, dinner, host:Ensuring SaaS Security, with ISE & Valence Security in New York. (Well, maybe, given the snow forecast)
March 16, virtual panel, panelist:TechStrong Con 2023on “Is AI in Security a Revolution or Just an Evolution?”
March 22, webinar, host: Leading the Charge in Managing Cloud Security Risks as a CISO.
