Monday Security Memo

Intellectual Firepower for Professionals

The Floor is Lava (Or Is It?)

“Everything you want is on the other side of fear."

— George Addair

Dear A,

If you have kids, you’ve probably played The Floor Is Lava. I know my three-year-old son loves it.

The rules are simple. You scatter pillows, paper, clothes - anything you can find - across the floor. Those become your “stones.” The carpet, tile, or rug beneath them? That’s lava. The goal is to hop from stone to stone without touching the floor, eventually making it to safety - usually the couch.

Like most kids’ games, there’s music involved. In our house, we blast the Raiders of the Lost Ark theme while my son pretends he’s Indiana Jones racing toward the treasure. The game has been around for generations, and now there are even plastic lava stones you can buy - different shapes, sizes, and distances apart. Add balance beams. Add rope swings. Increase the difficulty.

It’s fun. But it’...

Monday Security Memo

Intellectual Firepower for Professionals

Building Your Professional Gestalt

“One story is an anecdote. A body of work is a reputation."

— Annonymous

Dear A,

Early in my consulting career, I learned a German word that permanently changed how I think about professional success: Gestalt.

I first heard it while working with one of the largest German technology companies in the world. My point of contact was an American who had grown up in Germany and now served as the firm’s U.S. liaison. Over lunch, he explained that Gestalt has no perfect English translation. Roughly, it means the whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. Then he said something that stuck with me:

“You want to continually build up your Gestalt.”

Too many professionals measure their careers by isolated moments: one deal they closed, one keynote they delivered, one major client they landed, or one impressive business trip they took. Worse still is the person w...

Monday Security Memo

Intellectual Firepower for Professionals

Seasons Greetings (and Happy Festivus) from SMI

“A new holiday was born... a Festivus for the rest of us!”

— Frank Costanza, Seinfeld

Dear A,

As the holiday season hits full operational overload - Hanukkah wrapping up, Christmas charging in, and Kwanzaa warming up on deck - there remains one stubborn, under-appreciated holiday refusing to be ignored: Festivus.

Festivus is what happens when holiday cheer finally snaps. Born out of a 1997 toy-store brawl and fueled entirely by frustration, Festivus was Frank Costanza’s answer to twinkling lights, forced joy, and seasonal nonsense. His philosophy was simple: No tinsel. No pretending. And absolutely no inner peace.

Celebration begins with the proud display of an aluminum pole - because Frank found "tinsel distracting" and happiness should never sparkle. Friends and family then gather for dinner, followed by the legendary Airing of Grievances, wher...

Monday Security Memo

Intellectual Firepower for Professionals

Leadership Lessons from "Collateral"

“Someday? Someday my dream will come? One night you’ll wake up and discover it never happened.”

— Vincent, Collateral

Dear A,

One of the most uncomfortable leadership lessons in film happens in the back seat of a taxi in 2004's, Collateral. Tom Cruise’s character, Vincent, isn’t a hero (he's a ruthless hitman), but he is brutally honest.

When Max, the taxi driver, explains his dream of owning a limousine business, Vincent isn’t impressed. Max has the name, the vision, the story. He’s been thinking about it for years. Vincent cuts through the fantasy with a single truth: owning a limo company doesn’t require a dream... it requires a lease. A Lincoln Town Car. Paperwork. Action.

That’s the difference between them.

Max isn’t incapable. He’s cautious, comfortable, and waiting for the “right time.” Vincent calls him out: you’ll never do it - not because you ...

Monday Security Memo

Intellectual Firepower for Professionals

Jonah Complex: The Fear of Success

“The greatest risk isn't aiming too high and missing... it's aiming too low so you never have to change.”

— Michelangelo

Dear A,

Most people claim they’re afraid of failing. In truth, many are far more afraid of succeeding.

Psychologists call this fear of success, sometimes referred to as the Jonah Complex, the fear of stepping fully into one’s potential. It was originally coined by Abraham Maslow and refers to how in the Bible, Jonah tried (in vain) to run away from his fate. Success brings consequences: higher expectations, visibility, accountability, and pressure. And for those who are comfortable talking about ambition but less comfortable owning results, that pressure feels threatening.

The data supports this. Research shows fear of achievement is closely linked to low self-efficacy - a lack of confidence in one’s ability to handle success - and lower li...

Monday Security Memo

Intellectual Firepower for Professionals

Move with Urgency to Win

“Without a sense of urgency, desire loses its value.”

— Jim Rohn

Dear A,

One of the most consistent patterns in success — whether in business, fitness, leadership, or personal growth — is that people who move quickly toward their goals far outperform those who overthink, over plan, or constantly change direction. Planning has value, of course, but the real separator between high performers and the average is speed of execution.

Research from the University of Scranton shows that only 8% of people actually achieve the goals they set. Not because the goals were too ambitious — but because most people never take meaningful action. Meanwhile, individuals who take immediate, imperfect steps are up to 40% more likely to achieve their goals. Because action creates momentum, and momentum is a strategic advantage.

Sir Richard Branson built his empire on a three-word philosophy:...

Dear A, 

It's November 28th and we're closing in on the last month of 2025.  Let's make it a great one.  I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving yesterday and you were able to be surrounded by family and friends.  Hopefully, it was a time to reflect and be filled with gratitude.  

Here's what I'm exploring this week...

AUDIO BOOK I'M LISTENING TO...

Zero Minus Ten by Raymond Benson. I remember reading this James Bond thriller more than twenty years ago during an overseas flights to one of my first assignments for CIA. It popped up in my audio book recommendations and I had to give it a listen. Benson was authorized by the Ian Fleming estate to carry on the tradition of writing James Bond novels. This was his first attempt and it stays in line with tradition. A short, but fun, listen.

HOLIDAY MOVIE I'M WATCHING...

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. This is the best - and one of the few - movies about Thanksgiving. Steve Martin and the late great John Candy give so...

Monday Security Memo

Intellectual Firepower for Professionals

Turkey with a Side of Intellectual Firepower

Dear A,

The Thanksgiving holiday takes place in the United States. It is a day to gather around the dinner table with loved ones and give thanks for all that is good in our lives (and eat large quantities of turkey meat with a bunch of side dishes). And, while the world can seem like a mean and nasty place sometimes, there is ALWAYS something to be thankful for. As an example, my 90-year old father is fond of saying, "Every day I look in the newspaper at the obituary pages... if I don't see my name in there, it's the best day of my life!" You gotta love his sense of gratitude.

I am certainly thankful for my family, my friends, my health, as well as all of you who have supported SMI over the years. Therefore, to show my appreciation, please allow me to share with you our annual "Black Friday" special promotion.

For our international friends, "Black Frid...

Monday Security Memo

Intellectual Firepower for Professionals

“You don't understand the strength of a team until you are pushed beyond your limits.”

— Gene Kranz

Dear A,

When an oxygen tank exploded aboard Apollo 13 on April 13, 1970, 200,000 miles from Earth, the three astronauts aboard — Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert, and Fred Haise — were suddenly fighting for their lives. What was supposed to be NASA’s third lunar landing instantly became a desperate struggle for survival. Back in Houston, a 37-year-old flight director named Gene Kranz and his team of engineers faced a crisis unlike anything they had ever trained for. Yet through composure, preparation, and leadership under pressure, they achieved the impossible: bringing the astronauts home safely.

Kranz was the leader of what NASA called the “White Team,” part of a rotation of mission control units responsible for different shifts. Internally, they were known as the “Tiger Team,” a handpicked group of enginee...

Monday Security Memo

Intellectual Firepower for Professionals

Endure It... Stop Complaining

“If it is endurable, then endure it. Stop complaining. The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.”

— Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

Dear A,

Life is not fair. It never has been. It’s tough, unpredictable, and brutally competitive — and that’s exactly what makes it worth living. Marcus Aurelius, the Roman emperor who wrote those words nearly two thousand years ago, understood something timeless: the world doesn’t care about your excuses. It only responds to your actions.

That’s the essence of CARVER Leadership.

The Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius faced wars, betrayal, and plague — yet he refused to let external chaos dictate his internal strength. He understood that endurance is not resignation. It’s power. It’s choosing to remain steady while the world tests your resolve.

CARVER Leadership teaches that same principle. The “C”...