Happy Sunday, everyone! I hope you all are having a great weekend, and for those of you who celebrate Halloween, I hope it was a great holiday for you. At the risk of ridicule and admonishment, I will confess that I’m not really all that into Halloween—I can certainly take it or leave it. More power to those who live for the day every year! ☺️
I cannot believe that it is November—already. Where on earth does the time go? I’ll admit that there are times where I don’t mind the time flying by like it has been, and other times, I wish it would slow down. One of such times will be my upcoming time off from work, which I may as well call a ‘short sabbatical’. I will be off starting from the day before Thanksgiving here in the U.S., and will return to work on the 2nd of January. I’ve also learned that the 2nd is a Friday, so that’s a really great way to ease back into my work routine, wouldn’t you agree? 😜
I’m also hoping that the extended time off will help me relearn how to move through life more slowly, and to try and pay more attention to the softer things—the things that one might miss when in a hurry. I used to have that gift of noticing those softer things—vibrant colors of flowers, a polished outfit or great shoes, a gentle breeze.
Lately, I haven’t been noticing any of those things. Something people may or may not know about me is that I love people-watching. It was a remarkable way for me to see those soft things in life and in people, and find inspiration for my own personal style. It’s my hope to try and use some of my time away to do that. One of my favorite ways to do that used to be to go to a mall. Nowadays, those aren’t popular at all, and our local mall is pretty much dead. My second favorite place is coffeehouses, so I may spend an hour or two at the nearby Starbucks to grab some peach green tea lemonade, sit back, and let life—flow. I might even bring along my iPad mini to play around and sketch a bit, should I become inspired by something. It’s been quite some time since I sketched and doodled around, and while I’m not all that good at it, I really enjoyed it. In any case, I want to reacquaint myself with the softer side of life. ☺️
This Got Me Thinking
Wonder why soft skills (think communication, active listening, empathy, etc.) are so important, especially when it comes to raising security awareness?
You need to be able to describe the importance of security in a way that people understand, WITHOUT all of the alphabet soup and “tech speak.” Don’t assume that folks who aren’t in the field know what you’re talking about—this is called the ‘curse of knowledge.’ If you don’t translate your expertise, this is how you’ll sound to the everyday person:
Complete nonsense.
I’ve watched this happen countless times. A colleague would be helping someone, rattling off terms like “IP addresses” or “VLANs” or “network segmentation”—and I could see it in the person’s face. That polite nod. That glazed-over look. They weren’t following, but they didn’t feel safe saying so.
It reminded me of how style advice can sound when it’s too insider-y. Someone might say “you need to consider your proportions and create a capsule wardrobe with versatile pieces that work for your color season”—and if you’re just trying to figure out what to wear to work, that’s overwhelming. It sounds exclusive, like there’s some secret language you’re supposed to already know.
But security, like style, should be accessible. When we speak in jargon, we’re not just confusing people. We’re creating distance. We’re making them feel like security isn’t for them, like it’s some exclusive club they’ll never understand.
But security is for them. It has to be. Because at the end of the day, the strongest firewall in the world won’t help if someone doesn’t understand why they shouldn’t click that link, or why their password matters, or what to do when something feels off.
Soft skills—clear communication, empathy, active listening—aren’t just nice to have in cybersecurity. They’re essential. They’re how we build trust. They’re how we make security accessible. They’re how we actually protect people, instead of just talking at them.
Maybe the most technical thing we can do is learn to speak like humans.
Finally, here’s a look back at what I wore to work this past week. I hope you enjoy them. Please enjoy the rest of your weekend!
-Terry
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