One of my favorite podcasts is Security Now with Leo Laporte and Steve Gibson.  This past week’s episode (#213) Steve discussed how simple it was to crack GSM.  You can scan through the show notes here. For those who don’t know, GSM (Global System for Mobile communications) is the cell phone technology for over three billion users worldwide, and has 80 percent of the cellphone market spread through 200 countries.  In the US, if you are on AT&T or T-Mobile you are running on GSM.  Obviously, this is a huge target.

By saying “it can be cracked”, I am actually saying that your conversations can be picked up by a radio receiver, decrypted using an open hardware solution that costs less than $1400 and managed with open source software.  This is some really scary stuff.  The GSM Alliance, the group responsible for the GSM standard, is burying their heads in the sand with respect to this breach.  Apparently, the weaknesses of GSM have been known for years, but no one has attempted to resolve them but rather rely upon security through obscurity.

I would suggest downloading the podcast and taking notes.  This could get ugly.

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Yesterday I started the last class of my MBA course work.  Yes, I know, its about time.  The class is global strategy.  Seemingly an interesting and applicable topic.  However, here is the challenge.  The professor teaching the class has had his PhD since 1975 and has been, essentially, in academia since.  Yesterday he gave us his bio and stated that he had two short stints in the professional world early on in his life but found that the accountability for decisions wasn’t what he was looking for so he returned to academia.  What?!?!  So you feel that because you’ve written, studied, and investigated global strategy, yet have never actually needed to make, implement, and live with strategic decisions you are qualified to teach this class of business executives (it is an executive MBA program) how to make appropriate strategic decisions?  It boggles my mind, and is incredibly frustrating.

My frustration has led me to think about the rest of the business world and how many people, in effect, state “do as I say not as I do or never have done.”  I’ve read a number of business books in the last few months and have been inspired in many ways to make changes in what I do.  However, I do research on the authors of these books, and look at their credentials and touch with reality.  I’m not naive or arrogant enough to think that people can’t teach me if they don’t have more experience than I do.  The are pieces of knowledge and wisdom out there for the taking.  I also recognize there are areas of knowledge that require research and investigation, i.e. economic modeling, chemistry, biology, etc.  However, I do expect that when I seek knowledge I expect to be taught by someone with valuable and applicable knowledge.  The material for this class is primarily made up of books and articles that were written before 1995.  Again, it is a global strategy class.  Please raise your hand if you actually think that global strategy hasn’t changed in the last 10 to 15 years.

Anyway, the point of this rant is be careful where you search for knowledge.  Be sure you have some background.  Just because some knowledge makes you feel good doesn’t mean it is true or valuable.  Buzzwords are far too often taken as knowledge in business.  It’s like fad diets to lose weight quickly, when everyone knows you need to cut calories, eat healthier, and exercise regularly.  There is no substitute for hard work, team cohesion, clear communication, and passion for success.

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I’ve recently been on a business/leadership book binge.  It helps that I listen to audiobooks to and from work.  Check out audible.com, I love their service.  However, I thought I would quickly blog about a few that I have recently completed, some for the second, third, or even fifth time.

First,  Leadership and Self-deception by The Arbinger Institute.  This book is one of the most impacting leadership book I’ve ever read.  It speaks to not what you do but why you do it.  The focus of the book is changing your motives and way of being toward people…recognizing how we are driven and how to improve.  It is an easy read, as the book is written in the story/parable format. I highly recommend the book to anyone looking to improve in their professional or personal life.

The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive by Patrick Lencioni.  I really enjoy Lencioni’s work and have read almost everything he has written.  This book, however, is one of his most impactful.  Again, the book is written in the story/parable format, but the latter fourth of the text is actually instructions on implementing the four obsessions, which are:

1. Build and maintain a cohesive leadership team
2. Create organizational clarity
3. Over-communicate organizational clarity
4. Reinforce organizational clarity through human systems

This book is a “must read”, in my humble opinion, for anyone in an executive position or striving to be an executive.  The first time I read this book I was a project manager for a large financial institution with no direct reports.  Many of the principles didn’t really hit home at the time, but it started the foundation.  I’m now a Vice President of an organization with a reasonably sized team and I see the obsessions in a bit of a different light. 

Pick up these books and check them out.  It won’t be a waste of your time.

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