Blog
Integrated, Risk-Based Security
Posted by: Tom Read | Posted on: May 19th, 2012 | 2 Comments
I recently presented some Big Sky thinking on security risks at a monthly meeting of the Association of IT Professionals in Washington, DC. I talked about the problems that occur when organizations address functional security risks (e.g., IT, HR, physical) in isolation. The organizations do not integrate these risks to find patterns of behavior indicative of potential threats. Furthermore, they [...]Big Data and Strategic Decision Analysis
Posted by: Patrick Norton | Posted on: May 12th, 2012 | 1 Comments
It’s easy to collect data these days, but the real challenge is taking “big data” and turning it into something useful. A billion data points are useless if you can’t make a better decision with them – or build a better baseball team. A recent article from the Harvard Business Review warns that Good Data [...]Leaders, Organizations and Strategy
Posted by: Brad Gates | Posted on: April 30th, 2012 | 0 Comments
I was all ready to write up my next blog entry on organizational culture. That was before I had a meeting with an individual about organizational strategy. The conversation I had made me think I should write a little something about a problem that I believe is prevalent, not only in the government, but organizations [...]EO Nerve 2012: Mike McQuary Shares Thoughts on Business and Management
Posted by: Hanno Ekdahl | Posted on: April 23rd, 2012 | 0 Comments
I attended a presentation by Mike McQuary, who is a serial entrepreneur (Mindspring/EarthLink, and now Wheego), at the EO Nerve Conference in Atlanta. Mike founded Mindspring with Charles Brewer, and they wanted to start a new venture that was based on a great culture. Their vision was to create a fun place to work that engages employees, encourages [...]Wherever You Are, Be All There
Posted by: Carolyn Purcell | Posted on: April 10th, 2012 | 2 Comments
A few weeks ago, a colleague sent me a timely blog post by Tony Schwartz called “The Magic of Doing One Thing at a Time”. Last week, Schwartz wrote a follow-on piece called “Slow Down, You Move Too Fast.” Both posts provide refreshing and validating insights on how to best manage the pressure to be [...]The Three Big Objections to Data (and why they’re nonsense)
Posted by: John Dillard | Posted on: April 4th, 2012 | 2 Comments
Big Sky is often in the position of helping clients solve tough problems using evidence, but we’re often surprised by just how resistant to evidence many organizations are. Particularly with all of the “big data” talk lately, leaders and managers are usually skipping a key prerequisite: overcoming the fundamental objections to using evidence in the organization. Across many industries and [...]Identity Management: Unique, Usable, and Ubiquitous Usernames
Posted by: Hanno Ekdahl | Posted on: April 4th, 2012 | 1 Comments
Many organizations create LoginIDs for their users that are based on their real names. In organizations with an identity management solution, most naming standards are built on a simple algorithm such as the one below: There are a number of challenges with using a name-based UserID, the most obvious perhaps is the fact that people [...]Roles Based Access Control for NERC CIP Management
Posted by: Robert Hull | Posted on: March 30th, 2012 | 0 Comments
This TDI Technologies whitepaper, CIP-005-5 R2 DRAFT: Understanding the Security Requirements for Remote Access Management to the Bulk Energy System, is promoting the idea of using Intermediate Devices (IDs) to better secure NERC CIP Electronic Security Perimeters (ESPs) that contain Bulk Electric System (BES) Critical Cyber Assets (CCAs). Some of the key reasons they believe [...]Active Listening as a Critical Management Success Factor
Posted by: Elisa Palmer | Posted on: March 21st, 2012 | 1 Comments
I found myself nodding in agreement as I read a recent McKinsey article, An executive’s guide to better listening. We have all sat in meetings where people are providing great suggestions and input, only to realize that the manager or executive has their own agenda and isn’t interested in what’s being said. In addition to missing [...]
