Monkeys in the Cockpit: Part 1

Misplacing Expertise: My Life as an educator for a non-profit

In a business like this(technology), people with the power are the people who have an understanding of what’s going on, not necessarily the ones on top. It’s very important that those people who have the knowledge are the ones who make the decisions.

Gordon Moore — Co founder, Intel

In the dawn of space exploration, we turned to monkeys as our pioneers, sending them into space as a test of the unknown. These primates, while perhaps better suited than most of their kind, were not masters of astronautical engineering or space navigation. They were trained for specific tasks — to sit, eat, and press a designated sequence of buttons when hungry. The world might have been fascinated by their journey, imagining them as highly intelligent creatures piloting intricate machinery. However, most sensible people would not want that same monkey to drive them to school or work. Trusting them with more complex operations, like driving a car through city streets, would be ludicrous. Their capability was confined to the narrow bounds of their training, lacking the comprehensive understanding and instinctual passion necessary to operate outside those confines. Just as we wouldn’t want these space-traveling primates to drive us to work, we need to recognize the importance of expertise and passion in roles that demand them. Working for a non-profit is not just a job. It’s much more and should be taken seriously.

Similarly, non-profit companies that entrust their cybersecurity to individuals with scant experience is like expecting the space-monkeys to drive us to work. While these professionals might have excelled in the realms of business, marketing, or humanities, their lack of deep-rooted cybersecurity knowledge renders them as out of place as a monkey behind the wheel of a car. It’s not a matter of their intelligence or capability in their respective fields, but rather a mismatch of expertise. Just as one wouldn’t rely on those monkeys to give them a haircut, it’s stupid to expect someone without a genuine passion or understanding of cybersecurity to adeptly manage the multifaceted challenges it presents. Their motivations lie not in the love for the task at hand, but in the pursuit of personal progression. Like those monkeys, they might push the right buttons occasionally, but without a profound understanding of the larger system at play.

During my five years as the director for cybersecurity education, I witnessed a constant erosion of expertise as the original staff eventually left for other horizons, replaced with friends and associates who were put in positions they were not qualified for. Some of these positions required at least the rudimentary aspects of cybersecurity. But management was more concerned with television coverage and meeting with politicians, and gaining newspaper writeups. They transitioned anti-merit sceme under the nose of the publeic. We beacme a palce for of cybersecurity expoertise, without a single person actually training in cybersecurity or education. This happened this in a mere two years, from novice practitioners to directors of departments, were everyone is a director, but in reality, they are glorified administrative assistance, making phone calls, meeting people and coming up with great ideas that others with real knowledge, talent, and expertise had to be hired to execute.

While my unknowledgeable, and inexperienced colleagues got the title of directors, and they did well with ancient project management theory that has not changed much in 30 years. Not one of the people that ran this cybersecurity non-profit had prior expereainced or training before they were hired. I wondered why they were there in the first place. They are Generalist Project Managers, focusing on resource coordination and project oversight. Contrary to that, my role as a technical leader involves direct engagement with the core technical aspects of cybersecurity and technology projects. My comprehensive expertise not only allows me to design and teach the curriculum but also to configure and engineer the necessary network infrastructure. This dual capacity enables me to offer a unique blend of strategic planning and practical, in-depth technical skills, distinguishing my contributions from the more logistical and administrative focus of traditional project management roles.

I employ a holistic, direct involvement approach, where I amalgamate strategic leadership with hands-on expertise in cyber education, network engineering, and data security. This enables me to personally conceive, develop, and execute projects, ensuring seamless integration of educational content and technological infrastructure. Conversely, my peers typically adopt a delegation-based approach, concentrating on conceptual development and relying on external expertise for execution. This fundamental difference in methodologies underscores my unique position as a self-sufficient expert capable of single-handedly transforming concepts into tangible outcomes.

With my own company, I am able to reach the very people and communities that I targeted in the first place; the group of people that are underrepresented in the cybersecurity industry; people of color, low income, women, and communities on the lower end of the social economic spectrum of our community. In just a little over a month, I have been able to reach the community and population that needed my skill the most. My efforts go directly to the people, not unnecessary trips, and elbow rubbing with granters that will keep them in their friends with cushy jobs. None of their efforts trickle down to who need training and educational assistance.

It’s been satisfying to actually work with the people I wanted to assist and to see the direct positive results within my community. Working directly with the schools in my area has been a breath of fresh air. When it comes to helping people, I can do this forever.

P.S. Stay tuned for part 2!