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...

Dear A,

The CARVER Washington DC course is open for registration. You can find details below.

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

AUDIOBOOK I'M LISTENING TO...

Marinovich: Outside the Lines in Football, Art, and Addiction. Anyone who followed football in the late ’80s and early ’90s remembers the saga of Todd Marinovich. Hyped as “Robo QB” by Sports Illustrated, the All-American high school quarterback was meticulously groomed by his father, Marv Marinovich - a former NFL player turned strength and conditioning coach for the Oakland Raiders.

From the start, Todd’s upbringing was anything but typical. He endured an over-disciplined and often dysfunctional childhood, subjected to advanced training regimens overseen by a revolving door of specialists: strength coaches, vision coaches, throwing coaches, dietitians, and sports psychologists. Legend has it he never tasted a Big Mac, Coke, or Oreo as a kid. His father even recruited NFL offensive coordinators to teach To...

 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...

Dear A,

We're currently planning a big CARVER course in the Washington DC area in October. More details to follow.

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

BLINK I'M LISTENING TO...

13 Things Mentally Strong People Don't Do by Amy Morin. This was a cool little blink that popped up on my Blinkist App. The solid advice about what mentally strong people don't do includes:

1. They Don’t Waste Time Feeling Sorry for Themselves
2. They Don’t Give Away Their Power
3. They Don’t Shy Away from Change
4. They Don’t Waste Energy on Things They Can’t Control
5. They Don’t Worry About Pleasing Everyone
6. They Don’t Fear Taking Calculated Risks
7. They Don’t Dwell on the Past
8. They Don’t Make the Same Mistakes Over and Over
9. They Don’t Resent Other People’s Success
10. They Don’t Give Up After the First Failure
11. They Don’t Fear Alone Time
12. They Don’t Feel the World Owes Them Anything
13. They Don’t Expect Immediate Results

STUDY I'M READING...

Implementation Intentions and Goal Ach...

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...

Dear A,

It's been a crazy week. I have so many projects going on at the same time, it's been difficult to keep them all straight.

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

BOOK I'M READING...

Built to Sell by John Warrillow. This is a modern classic that I have read at least twice before. It serves as a great reminder for what I need to do to make my business more valuable in the eyes of others. It's one of those concepts that is simple to understand but difficult to implement.

IDEA I'M PROCESSING...

I stumbled upon this anonymous idea, which I think is outstanding:

• Laziness kills ambition;
• Anger kills wisdom;
• Fear kills dreams;
• Jealously kills peace;
• Doubt kills confidence.

NOW READ IT AGAIN FROM RIGHT TO LEFT.

VIDEO I'M WATCHING...

Supernatural Pickpocketing Skills with Apollo Robbins. Robbins is one of the best pick-pocket/sleight of hand magicians out there. This is a great example of how easily misdirection can be employed to distract unsuspecting victims.

WORK...

Dear A,

I can't believe it's already August 1st. It's been a hot summer down here in Florida and I'm honestly looking forward to some cooler months ahead.

Stuck inside with the AC set at 72, here’s what’s been on my mind this week...

REPORT I'M READING...

AI 2027 by Daniel Kokotajlo, Scott Alexander, Thomas Larsen, Eli Lifland, Romeo Dean. So, this report was brought to my attention the other day. After reading about "superhuman AI" or "Agent-4", I'm convinced that business as we have known it for the past 25 years will be radically disrupted in just the next 3-5. If you are not up-to-speed on the AI Revolution, you will be left behind. Read this is you are business person who doesn't want to become obsolete (NOTE - I was never a "techie" but I recognize the concept of adapt or die).

BOOK I'M WRITING...

CARVER Leadership: Lessons from the Board Room, War Room, and Locker Room. My colleague, former undercover mob-buster turned NBA referee, Bob Delaney, and I have been working on...

Monday Security Memo

Intellectual firepower for security professionals

Fear is the Enemy of Progress

“Limits, like fear, are often an illusion.”

– Michael Jordan

Dear A,

Fear will kill your dreams.  Fear will murder your ambitions.  And worst of all, fear will rob you of the life you were meant to live.

In The Book on Mental Toughness, Andy Frisella makes it crystal clear: fear isn’t just a feeling—it’s a thief.  It sneaks in quietly, convincing you to play it safe, shrink your goals, and silence your voice.  But here’s the truth: most of what we fear won’t hurt us.  Most of what we fear will never happen.  And most of what we fear is an absolute waste of time.

Sure, there are things in life worth fearing.  The health of a loved one.  A real threat to your safety.  But let’s be honest—those aren’t the fears that hold us back.  What really paralyzes people are the shallow fears, such as:

• What if they say no?
• What if I try something new and I’m terrible at it?
• What w...

Monday Security Memo

Intellectual firepower for security professionals

It's What You Do in That Six Minutes

“When you're finished changing, you're finished.”

— Benjamin Franklin

Dear A,

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the classic high school wrestling film Vision Quest. As a teenager, I remember the movie for three things:

1. The massive crush I had on actress Linda Fiorentino (how I wished my parents would take in a mysterious, beautiful older woman to live with us when I was 17…).
2. The way it channeled the underdog spirit of Rocky—a motivational sports movie through and through. In fact, UFC president Dana White has credited Vision Quest as part of the inspiration behind building the UFC.
3. And of course, the soundtrack. That opening riff of “Lunatic Fringe” by Red Rider still gives me chills. It’s the same song Randy Couture used to walk out to the Octagon—just like Louden Swain did as he charged onto the mat to face the unbeatable state champion, Shute (a beast
...

Monday Security Memo

Intellectual firepower for security professionals

Red Queen Hypothesis

“When you're finished changing, you're finished.”

— Benjamin Franklin

Dear A,

The Red Queen Hypothesis is one of my favorite metaphors for the modern business world — and life in general. It comes from Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass, where the Red Queen famously tells Alice, “It takes all the running you can do to stay in the same place.” In 1973, evolutionary biologist Leigh Van Halen borrowed this line to describe how species must constantly adapt just to avoid extinction. (Fun fact: 1973 was a great year because it’s when I was born — and yes, I’ll still argue that Eddie Van Halen, no relation to Leigh, was the greatest guitarist of all time. But I digress.)

In business, the Red Queen’s message is painfully clear: technology improves every single day. If you’re not evolving with it, you’re basically the dodo bird waiting to happen. I think back to my MBA in the late ’90...