This post from Bob Lord ranks as one of the most valuable posts I've seen on LI this year. Watch it. I was fortunate to be exposed to some of these principles about system design and resilience in my academic work in Chemical Engineering before I came to software & security. Too many startup founders "normalize deviance" (see video reference to Diane Vaughn writing on the Challenger Launch Decision). The standout quote from RIchard Cook's remarks is "What is surprising is not why there are so many accidents, its that there are so few". In the diligence work I do for VC & PE firms, understanding a "hot" startup/acquisition/investment target's internal practices in managing their operating posture as they move between the economic/operator/failure boundaries is a good predictor of whether they will survive/thrive or be enmeshed in crises (taking their customers down). Seriously - watch this video for a terrific framework to understand and evaluate risk.
Perhaps today would be a good day for everyone who works in software development, deployment, or use (which is everyone!) to re-watch Dr. Richard Cook’s 2013 presentation on 𝙍𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙄𝙣 𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙭 𝘼𝙙𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙎𝙮𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙢𝙨: 𝙊𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙀𝙙𝙜𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙁𝙖𝙞𝙡𝙪𝙧𝙚: https://lnkd.in/gn9QBnH9 Perhaps you’ll host a brown bag lunch this week to watch it with your teams and to discuss what lessons your organization can incorporate. Perhaps CEOs will find themselves showing the entire video at the next all-staff meeting. 𝘞𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘵. Get out of the echo chamber that has created the current untenable situation we find ourselves in.
