Monday Security Memo

Intellectual Firepower for Professionals

The Birth of Nike's Vision

“The cowards never started and the weak died along the way. That leaves us.”

- Phil Knight

Dear A,

You want to see what vision looks like in real life? Look no further than Phil Knight, the co-founder of Nike.

In the 1960s, Knight was just a scrappy entrepreneur selling running shoes out of the trunk of his car. No investors. No marketing team. Just a belief that American athletes deserved better gear — and the relentless drive to make that happen. That’s what vision looks like before the world believes in it.

In those early days, Knight teamed up with his track coach, Bill Bowerman, who became Nike’s first innovator. One morning, Bowerman poured rubber into his wife’s waffle iron — and out came a sole that changed the game: lightweight, grippy, and perfect for runners chasing fractions of a second.

That single act of creativity became the DNA of Nike. But innovat...

Monday Security Memo

Intellectual Firepower for Professionals

Capability: Ted Williams and the Science of Hitting

“The greatest hitter in the world can fail two-thirds of the time and still be great.”

- Ted Williams

Dear A,

When discussing “Capability” in leadership, my father’s favorite baseball player, Ted Williams, provides a perfect example. Williams famously argued that hitting a baseball is the single hardest skill in all of sports - and he was probably right. Imagine the challenge: with a round bat, you must strike a round ball traveling 100 miles per hour, released from only sixty feet six inches away. On top of that, the pitcher can manipulate the ball with curves, sliders, knuckleballs, and even throw a high fastball at your head to keep you off balance.

Williams wasn’t just good at this nearly impossible task; he was extraordinary. In 1941, he accomplished what no Major Leaguer has done since - finishing a season with a .406 batting average, suc...

Monday Security Memo

Intellectual Firepower for Professionals

No Plan Survives First Contact

“Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”

- Mike Tyson

Dear A,

In 1871, Prussian field marshal Helmuth von Moltke the Elder stated, "One cannot be at all sure that any operational plan will survive the first encounter with the main body of the enemy." Over time, that phrase has been simplified by the military into, "No plan survives contact with the enemy.” It’s one of those quotes that sticks because it’s so true - not just for war, but for business, sports, and life itself.

Without a doubt, plans are important. You wouldn’t start a business, coach a team, or train for a marathon without some kind of roadmap. But Moltke reminds us that the world is messy. The moment you “make contact”, whether that’s with competitors, opponents, or just life throwing you a curveball, your perfect plan is going to get tested.

And that’s where flexibility com...

Monday Security Memo

Intellectual Firepower for Professionals

The Power of Sua Sponte

“In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.”

- Theodore Roosevelt

Dear A,

I was recently reading Admiral William McRaven’s book on leadership, The Wisdom of the Bullfrog.  In one chapter, he reflects on the Army Rangers’ motto, Sua Sponte - Latin for “Of Your Own Accord.”  It means doing what needs to be done without waiting for permission.

That idea immediately took me back to a remote CIA base in Iraq where I worked during the early days of Operation Iraqi Freedom.  On the wall of our compound hung a simple sign that read: “If not us, who?”

Over time, you begin to realize that this is the essence of leadership: stepping up when others look away, taking responsibility when it would be easier to say, “That’s not my job.”

Admiral McRaven shares a powerful s...

Monday Security Memo

Intellectual Firepower for Professionals

Nike's New Slogan is Concerning

“The cowards never started. The weak died along the way. That leaves just us.”

- Phil Knight, Co-Founder of Nike

Dear A,

On Friday, my wife sent me a text saying that athletic apparel giant Nike was changing its slogan after forty years from “Just Do It” to “Why Do It.”

At first, I honestly thought it was a joke headline, something you’d see in The Onion or another satirical publication.  But when I went to Nike’s website, I saw it was true. Their press release proudly rolled out the new campaign, clearly aimed at Generation Z, which read in part:

“Designed to meet young athletes where they are, the campaign reframes greatness as a choice, not an outcome — handing ‘Just Do It’ to today’s generation and emboldening them to write the next chapter. The striking message speaks directly to today’s athletes, who are growing up in a world where trying, and failing, can ...

Monday Security Memo

Intellectual Firepower for Professionals

The Spotlight Effect

“You wouldn't worry so much about what others think of you if you realized how seldom they do.”

- Eleanor Roosevelt

Dear A,

Ever walked into a room convinced that everyone noticed your mismatched socks, or spilled food on your shirt at a party and thought the stain was the evening’s main event?  That’s the Spotlight Effect at work.  It's our tendency to overestimate how much others notice and evaluate our actions, appearance, or behavior.

Psychologists call this the illusion of transparency.  It feels as though a giant spotlight is shining on us 24/7, exposing our every move.   But the reality is, most people are so preoccupied with their own problems that they rarely give more than a passing glance before returning to their own mental to-do list.

Why does this happen?  Much of it stems from egocentric bias, or our natural tendency to view the world only from our perspectiv...

Monday Security Memo

Intellectual Firepower for Professionals

Time to Get a Bigger Frying Pan

“Blame no one. Expect nothing. DO SOMETHING!”

- Bill Parcells

Dear A,

Nick Saban tells a story about a man who went fishing and kept tossing back the biggest catches. When asked why, the man replied, “My frying pan at home is only nine inches wide.”

It sounds absurd - but most people live exactly like that. They don’t expand their capacity. They don’t grow their mindset. They settle for what “fits” inside the limits of their excuses.

The truth is, too many people don’t know how to win. The moment life gets tough, instead of rising to the occasion, they fold like an old lawn chair. They’re deathly afraid of competition, pressure, and accountability. When the spotlight is on them, they don’t embrace the opportunity - they hide from it. They bury their heads in the sand like ostriches, hoping the pressure will pass.

Rather than being the adult in the room, they ...

Monday Security Memo

Intellectual Firepower for Professionals

If Nick Saban Ran Your Company

“You don’t win because you do extraordinary things on game day - you win because you did ordinary things with extraordinary discipline every day before it.” — Nick Saban

Dear A,

If Nick Saban walked into your office tomorrow, would he be impressed - or would he cut half your team?

Championship coaches don’t care about excuses, market conditions, or what the competition is doing this quarter. They care about standards. They care about building a culture where everyone - from the star quarterback to the equipment manage - executes with precision every single day.

The scoreboard? That’s just the byproduct. The real work happens long before kickoff - in the preparation, the discipline, and the relentless pursuit of excellence.

Legendary San Francisco 49ers coach Bill Walsh famously said, “The score takes care of itself.” He meant that if you commit to a system of exce...

 Monday Security Memo

Intellectual Firepower for Professionals

The CIA's "Alice in Wonderland Technique" Explained

“The aim of the Alice in Wonderland, or confusion, technique is to confound the expectations and conditioned reactions of the interrogatee... Now he is likely to make significant admissions, or even to pour out his story, just to stop the flow of babble which assails him.”

- KUBARK Counterintelligence Interrogation Manual

Dear A,

In the 1950s, L. Ron Hubbard - founder of Scientology - coined the "Alice in Wonderland Technique," a psychological ploy using contradictory statements, abrupt topic shifts, and disorienting nonsense. The goal? To fracture your sense of reality so completely that you’d grasp at any coherent cue, usually delivered by the person doing the confusing. It’s like throwing someone down a mental rabbit hole until they cling to any hand reaching out.

This very concept didn’t stay confined to fringe teachings. The CIA formalized i...

Monday Security Memo

Intellectual Firepower for Professionals

How to Think Fast When the Room Goes Silent

“The only difference between a stumbling block and a stepping stone is how high you raise your foot.”

– Benny Lewis

Dear A,

The room is thick with tension. A group of executives sit around the table. Everyone’s dressed like they already closed the deal—except they haven’t. All eyes are on Don Draper.

It’s the pilot episode of Mad Men, and the stakes couldn’t be higher. Lucky Strike, one of the agency’s biggest clients, is about to walk unless Don can deliver a winning ad campaign. The meeting begins, and when it’s finally Don’s turn to speak… he says nothing.

He’s frozen. Mind blank. The legendary ad man, the silver-tongued closer, has nothing. The silence is unbearable. The client shifts. The boss looks worried. The junior execs can’t even make eye contact. It feels like the end—because we’ve all been there. That moment when you’re supposed to have the answer...