Driving change with vision

This newsletter originally appeared on the Duha One substack.

Leadership Moment: Vaccinating California

The story of VaccinateCA is a fascinating one: a small volunteer group that came together, not to do anything other than a form of information arbitrage: finding out where Covid vaccines were, and getting that knowledge to the people who wanted to know (so that they could move the vaccine from a needle into their body). I’m not going to try to summarize all of the details of the story (read it, it’s fascinating), but what struck me was how laser-focused on solving one problem the VaccinateCA team was:

You need four things to administer the vaccine: a patient, a healthcare provider, a space with some air that will accommodate approximately 30 minutes of dwell time, and a vial of the vaccine. Critically, they must all be in the exact same location at the exact same time for at least one minute.

The VaccinateCA team didn’t provide any of the four. What they focused on, though, was specifically that outcome: How many times a day could those four things come together, and how could they help? Their story wanders through all the myriad roadblocks that spring up almost accidentally in any large bureaucratic and logistical process, especially one with so many distinct participants. But their singular vision of helping maximize shots into arms put them in a place to lead the state of California entirely from the sidelines, with no granted authority other than their own will.

One Minute Pro Tip: Cast a long shadow

One of the hardest development challenges is getting experience to members of your team before a promotion, especially when access to that experience is only allowed to people already in a certain role. How will a manager ever be ready to be a director if they aren’t allowed into a VP’s staff meeting where only directors are allowed?

Start bringing along shadows. When you go present on a topic in a restricted room, bring along someone to watch and learn. If your peers frown on doing this for job training, give the person a role. They can be your expert on the topic, or they’re your note-taker for the day. But make it a practice to give your team experience in “the room where it happens” by having them be your shadow from time to time.

Chapter Teaser: Who will you be?

Chapter 40: You need vision to know if you’re on a right path

People often confuse vision with mission. To me, mission is what you’ll achieve, and vision tells you who you’ll be when you get there. Along the way to achieving your mission-goals, you’ll be presented with many choices, each taking different paths that you hope will get you to the right place. Traveling along each of those paths will change who you’ll become. Vision helps you pick between paths, avoiding ones that don’t align with how you see yourself. Do you see yourself as a servant leader? Putting that in your vision helps you avoid paths that might focus on results over people.

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Appearances

Last week, I wrote an oped arguing the the National Cybersecurity Strategy’s proposal to modify software liability would do more harm than good.

Giving a slightly longer future view out for folks who might want to join some of these events. Slightly new format to condense the information; drop me a comment if you prefer one type or the other.

March 14, webinar, host: Uncovering Hidden Risks in your cloud environments, with guests Kathryn T. Kun and George R. Werbacher .

March 14, dinner, host: Ensuring SaaS Security, with ISE & Valence Security in New York. (Well, maybe, given the snow forecast)

March 16, virtual panel, panelist: TechStrong Con 2023 on “Is AI in Security a Revolution or Just an Evolution?”, hosted by Mike Rothman , with Caroline Wong and ?? Adam Shostack

March 22, webinar, host: Leading the Charge in Managing Cloud Security Risks as a CISO.

March 28, webinar, host: Cloud Cost Optimization.

March 30, virtual roundtable, principal: with TechExecs.

April 11, webinar, host: Creating a Cloud Security Strategy.

April 18, 1% Leadership is released!

Behind the substack paywall: 1% Coach: Prioritization