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...

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...

Monday Security Memo

Intellectual firepower for security professionals

Keep Punching! Once in a Decade Opportunity 

Morning Al,

Since moving back to Florida a year ago, I decided to take up the sport of boxing. I don't formally compete mind you - I am a little too old to be squaring off against younger foes in the ring - but I do enjoy a hard workout in the gym. One of the mottos that I've incorporated from the boxing world into the security consulting world is the phrase, "Keep punching!" While it may sound overly simplistic, these two words are exactly what it took for me to survive my first decade as an entrepreneur.

As any small business owner would agree, you can - and frequently do - take a metaphorical "beating" on a regular basis (i.e., cashflow problems, legal issues, fierce competitors, etc.). There were plenty of days that I felt like Rocky Balboa (in the original movie) when Apollo Creed was using Rocky's head as a punching bag. The only way to survive the turmoil is...