Scott Amyx's video was featuredInterview with Artyom Astafurov, DeviceHiveInterview with Artyom Astafurov, DeviceHive open source Internet of Things platform. #IoT

Scott Lahman's blog post was featuredIt’s Past Time for the Telephone Industry to Embrace the InternetWhen it comes to building a thriving and lasting industry, evolution has always been the key to survival. Staying still is a surefire path to extinction. And nothing in recent history has spurred more change across all industries than the Internet.Take for instance television, which was initially resistant to changing its tried-and-true delivery methods to incorporate the Internet. It tried in vain to keep its customers reliant on cable boxes and satellite dishes in order to watch their favorite shows. As more and more customers began looking for ways to "cut the cord" and get their entertainment through various online offerings, the industry took notice and realized it needed to evolve in order to capture a new generation of online audiences. Suddenly, television wasn’t something that had to be watched on an actual television, and the industry began offering on-demand services, streaming services, apps and other offerings that require an Internet connection as opposed to a cable connection.Similar things have happened across the board. You don’t need a physical CD (or cassette or vinyl album) to listen to your favorite song anymore; you can download it or stream it or create your own custom online radio station. Books used to take up a lot of space and for voracious readers and collectors were a heavy hassle when it came time to move houses. Now, you can keep your entire library on a device the size of your palm, you can download what you want to read without ever having to leave your favorite reading chair, and you can even decide to take a rest from reading and just listen to the audiobook. The ease and speed of emails replaced the cost and time of mailing physical letters and mail is no longer confined to your mailbox, you can get email anywhere. All these industries have realized that evolution is not an option, it is a requirement in the Digital Age, and have found new delivery systems for their products.So why hasn’t the telephone industry evolved?On the surface, it probably seems like it has. There are phones that come with all manner of bells and whistles that look shiny and new. Touch screens and video calls and voice commands all give the illusion that the industry is keeping up with the Digital Age. But the fact of the matter is, voice communication is still largely unchanged as a form of communication. Despite appearances, nearly all voice communication is carried out by what is called the public switch telephone network (PSTN) that consists of telephone lines, cellular networks, communications satellites, etc. To put this in perspective, this is the concept that was born back in the early days of the telephone where switchboard operators were responsible for directly linking two phones together through a single connective line. That’s right, the same framework that was used when Alexander Graham Bell still walked the Earth is still the industry-wide standard.There has been some toe-dipping into internet-based delivery systems, primarily through Voice over IP (VoIP) which uses Internet Protocol networks as a connective link between voice-enabled devices. Without getting overly technical, PSTN transmits calls over a circuit-switched network, while VoIP sends digital information over a packet-switched network. It may seem like a minor distinction, but it actually opens up a whole world of potential innovations in voice communications.Perhaps the biggest thing to note about VoIP is that it opens up the possibility to use WiFi to make calls. And with most people already paying for WiFi service and existing in areas with WiFi coverage 80 percent of the time, why pay twice for something when you don’t have to? Using VoIP, customers can supplement or even replace cellular service with the WiFi they already pay for, which has monumental transformative implications for the industry.But beyond costs, there are many other possibilities when the telephone industry finally opens up to the Digital Age. Take for instance, presence. It is a notion we are already familiar with when it comes to instant messaging, and to a lesser extent, text messaging. Essentially, presence is what happens when you open up your instant messaging service and you get a list of which of you contacts are available, which are busy, and which are not logged in. Or when you send a text and you see those three little dots that indicate the recipient is replying. Presence doesn’t exist for traditional voice communication yet, and it is largely because of the restrictions of the PSTN. For the most part, you’re flying blind when you go to call someone, and don’t know if they are available to talk - unless you take a shortcut and send them an exploratory text beforehand.With VoIP, the lines of communication are always open, there isn’t a circuit-switched network that only opens up a line when asked. This makes presence in voice calling not just a possibility but a no-brainer. And presence just scratches the surface of what innovations the industry could see by switching to this new delivery system.The bottom line is that leveraging the Internet for voice communication is not just a possibility, it’s an inevitability. It is the next stop on the evolutionary trajectory of the Digital Age, and the voice industry either needs to get on board, or languish on the wrong side of history.Scott Lahman is founder and CEO of textPlus.See More

Have you ever noticed that the first four letters of the phrase "career development" spell "care"? Coincidence? I think not. Because, more than words on a page, care is at the very core of authentic and effective development. Unfortunately, care seems to be a casualty of today’s systematized, organized, schedule-driven world. When it comes to career development, managers follow the instructions that are handed down. Boxes are checked and forms are submitted. When compliance is high, the process is deemed a success. Yet everyone is surprised when employees continue to report low job satisfaction, waning engagement and a feeling of being underutilized. What’s missing? What could move the needle on these important measures? CARE. But care involves more than mere concern and or even active attention to others. Genuine development today is characterized by an evolving set of expectations and requirements. Leaders who care find ways to make sure that their efforts and support reflect this new reality, ensuring that the development they offer is: Customized. One size no longer fits all when it comes to development. In real estate, it’s location, location, location. In career development, it’s personalize, personalize, personalize. One size no longer fits all. It never really did — we just all went along with it figuring that "close enough" was "good enough." But if we can get burgers "our way" and jeans that fit the contours of our bodies, then if follows that something as important as career development must be tailored to the unique preferences of the individual. Published career paths and mass development are giving way to a focus on talent pools of one, where needs and plans are truly customized by person. What’s the right type of challenge and at what level? What are the conditions — the when, where, how and with whom — that make development most effective and enjoyable simultaneously? These are the questions to consider — not for a job title or pay grade — but for each individual in the organization as you customize career development. Action- and experience-based. The workplace is too fast-paced and dynamic for those leisurely five-year plans of days gone by. Employees expect progress and momentum toward their futures — starting today. As a result, long-term development plans that were heavy on formal training are being replaced by more informal, in-the-moment learning. Employees are recruiting specific experiences they need to build skills, complement talents, and mitigate weaknesses or risks. Consider replacing passive activities such as job shadowing and classroom learning with active experiences such as job rotations and action learning projects. The momentum employees feel will generate greater satisfaction and engagement. At the same time, the organization will enjoy the benefits of having real work completed in real time. Relational. Completing forms by a due date too frequently overshadows the needs and interests of the individual. Genuine development is personal and happens through the human acts of conversation. Through conversation, leaders can help employees recognize their strengths and weaknesses. Through conversation, leaders can help employees make sense of their experiences, interests, values and preferences. Through conversation, leaders can help employees set growth goals and determine how to reach them. Through conversation, leaders can help employees unpack their learning and discover more about themselves. Conversation is the vehicle through which development happens. As a result, building relationships that include ongoing communication should be the highest priority for leaders committed to the growth of others. Embedded. The work still has to get done. Right? Given lean organizations and ambitious business strategies, there’s not a lot of time for "extras." Development must find a home in the context of meeting ongoing goals and objectives. The good news is that every day offers tremendous challenges and opportunities to grow. But leaders must be able to read to signals, mine those key moments and guide employees toward the small steps that can quickly lead to great advances. For example, strategically and thoughtfully assigning tasks based upon the needs of the individual can build and expand capacity. Or, when employees experience success, that’s a great opportunity for a quick conversation about the skills they deployed and how else those skills can be used toward their goals. You don’t need to wait for that special time of the year to talk about development. Effective leaders do it a little every month, week, day — embedding it right in the workflow and treating it like the organic part of work that it really is. Genuine and effective career development today must be customized, action- or experience-based, relational and embedded. Leaders who CARE demonstrate their commitment to helping others grow — and, in the process, help also to grow the business and themselves. What about you? Do you care enough to share your thoughts? What are your observations about what’s required for career development success today? This article first appeared in SmartBlog on Leadership. The post Career Development Begins with Care appeared first on Julie Winkle Giulioni.

Jeff DeGraff's blog post was featuredWant Radical Innovation? Here's Where to LookInnovation happens behind-the-scenes. It's often not the faces of a company--the directors and managers--who come up with breakthrough ideas but the individuals working out of public view, in the background. These are the people who can see where the dots connect, who can tell where there are opportunities for change.Think of the structure of any large organization in terms of a mid-office and a back-office staff. Mid-office and back-office team members work in legal, IT, and HR departments. Most of these units in larger and more complex organizations are traditionally vertically oriented so that everyone reports to their own sector's manager.The few places in an organization that are also horizontally oriented are these back-office departments. Here, people can look across the business: back-office workers see where the points of contact are between all the parts of the larger company.That is the insight that helped spark a wildly successful innovation in a large, well-respected Wall Street investment bank at a key moment of transition.When the Chief Financial Officer first brought me in, it was the end of the go-go 90s, when all the mega-mergers were ending and all of the powerful investment firms were looking for new ways to make money. This venerable, old banking institution was out of position: while other banks were experimenting with different strategies or trying to put together mergers, this bank had stayed traditional, maintaining the same structure it had relied on for nearly one hundred years.As a result of this dependence on the old way of doing things, the company was disjointed. Each of its locations around the world was successful, but there was very little--if any--communication between each of those locations. Now, the executives wanted its regional chief financial officers to be more active in advising the leaders at the center of the company, to be more anticipatory and responsive and planning for the future.I recognized that there was an opportunity for a new source of revenue--a previously untapped area of income: the strategies developed by the legal team and other behind-the-scenes sectors. These back-office teams had come up with effective solutions to the company's problems, to issues that many other big global companies face. In particular, they had mastered the process of moving and repositioning the assets of client companies so that they had limited legal and tax exposure. These now controversial maneuvers where not highly valued by the bank and where merely considered part of the complicated details that had to be worked through to mitigate risk for their clients.I suggested that the company take these problem solving strategies and processes developed by back-office members and repackage them so they could sell them as a service to other industries.The issue was that the financial officers and controllers of the organization were simply not aware of how their company worked, what went on behind-the-scenes. They gave directives and all they really knew was that the back office simply carried them out. Once these financial officers learned what they could do with these invaluable sources of creativity, they made use of these back-office solutions. The back-office started creating a book of business policy and sold it worldwide. This new initiative brought in a huge amount of revenue for the banking firm. While some business that bought these strategies didn't replicate the original success, many--especially those in similar cultural environments--did recreate that success.The point is this: Everyone always talks to the new technology people and the trend experts when they want to achieve radical innovation, but the people you should talk to first are the ones in your own back-office. These are the people who really know where and how the business comes together--they see the opportunities for growth before anyone else does. They are the ones who can search for and reapply great ideas quickly. Don't look far for new talent. Your brightest stars are likely already shining in your backyard.Jeff DeGraff is a professor, author, speaker and advisor. Follow Jeff on Twitter @JeffDeGraff.See More

Maybe it’s due to world events and too much news of conflicts among nations. Or maybe it’s due to my conflict-adverse nature. Whatever the cause, war-based analogies today hold far less appeal to me in general.  And specifically, I’m feeling compelled to wave the white flag and call a truce in the war for talent. Recently I’ve read multiple articles that outline battle strategies or declare the war over altogether (and declaring talent the victor). Do we really want to characterize our efforts to attract and retain human beings within our enterprises in such a militaristic way?  Is it even valid imagery today? What if we focused less on the art of war… and more on the art of development? It’s not news that there’s a wide spectrum of skills and abilities in today’s job market. Nor is it news that competition for the best, brightest and most capable potential employees exists.  Yet, for many organizations, what is news is that learning and development are among the most powerful tools available to make them optimally attractive employers. Increasingly prospective employees across generational divides want to know what they can expect in terms of training, development, and opportunity. Crack that code and you’ve got an unbeatable recruiting strategy. And as for existing employees, when they don’t see you making a learning and development investment in them, they are going to stop investing in you. If you can’t find ways to continually help others grow, you’re going to suffer the fate of watching them go.  Some will resign, leaving for other opportunities. And others (and this is the more dangerous scenario) will stay.  Their bodies will be there, but their hearts and minds will have left the building. The result is disengagement, lack of motivation, underutilized capacity, and sub-optimized effort. An organization’s commitment to learning and developing is a key strategy for: Retaining key talent; Attracting the best possible new talent; and Driving business results. And - although this may sound bold - I believe it’s a key strategy for anyone interested in stabilizing our nation’s economy and ensuring a sustainable competitive advantage on the world stage. What if we stopped characterizing all of this as a war?  What if we challenged ourselves to move beyond zero-sum-game thinking with winners and losers? What if we stopped fighting over talent and turned our attention to developing it instead? We might just naturally keep more of the employees who are making a difference to the business.  But, even if they leave, other well-developed individuals would be ready to fill the void. Perhaps it’s time to focus less attention on the competition, conflict and battles… and more attention on helping others grow. Perhaps in the process we’d see that a rising tide really does lift all boats. Perhaps it’s time to give peace (and development) a chance. Image: © Sjenner13 | Dreamstime.com - Business Couple Playing Tug Of War Photo The post Let’s Call a Truce… in the War for Talent appeared first on Julie Winkle Giulioni.

Leaders are enamored with employee engagement. They repeatedly conduct surveys to assess it and hold meetings to address it. Yet, despite the millions of dollars that are invested annually, engagement continues to be among employees’ biggest disappointments and management’s top challenges. Maybe it’s time to re-think our expectations… to reframe the issue… to take the next logical step. What’s beyond engagement?  Well, in life outside of work, it’s typically marriage. ROMANTIC PARALLELS Couples enter into a romantic engagement as a transition to another, more committed state. In 2010, the average time from proposal to wedding was 15 months. ‘Five years’ was a long enough engagement to get its own movie. Yet we expect employees to remain engaged for decades over the course of their working careers. What might it look like to take the plunge to the next level… to the equivalent of marriage in the workplace? It certainly can’t look like a ‘to have and to hold until death do us part’ scenario. The old employment contract was broken long ago, making a vow of lifetime employment impossible today. VALID VOWS But there are other vows that employers and employees can make to deepen relationships and expand commitment for mutual benefit. Employers can take the development vow, committing to ensure growth opportunities to employees throughout their careers. And frankly, this is an easy one. Why wouldn’t an organization want to build its workforce’s skills and abilities? Smart leaders are figuring out how to provide development opportunities so that people can keep growing right in their current roles without the need for new or different positions. Really smart leaders know how to find these development opportunities in the real work that needs to get done, making for the ultimate win-win situation. Of course, vows go both ways. Employees must be prepared to put this investment in their development to work, deploying expanded capabilities toward improved outcomes and business results. There’s also the meaning vow.  People want to know that the time and energy they invest makes a difference. As a result, employers looking to graduate from engagement can commit to facilitating the experience of meaning at work. They can value contributions. They can help employees understand how they fit into the bigger picture. They can recognize and celebrate accomplishment and achievement. This can only work long-term if employees treat their work with the respect and attention consistent with its meaning. What’s involved is a vow to honor the work accordingly. Another way for organizations to deepen their relationships with employees and activate greater commitment is to consider the choice vow. Research conducted by Deci and Ryan find that one of the primary psychological needs employees bring to the workplace is the need for autonomy. Employers who understand this can realize remarkable results by finding ways to allow choice, control, and autonomy when and where it’s possible. Let’s be realistic though; it’s not always possible. For instance, employees rarely get to set strategy or even goals; but they are in the best possible position to determine how to realize those goals. Leveraging this dynamic builds strong bonds as well as business results. The vow back from employees who enjoy this sort of autonomy is clear. They must be willing to honor and abide by the rules and guidelines that do exist. Rather than challenging or second-guessing management’s parameters, they need to view them as the guardrails and rules of the road that enable a safe and successful journey. And finally, moving from mere engagement to a ‘marriage’ of employee and organization demands two-way trust. Employers must have confidence that employees will behave as committed partners. When this happens, trust infuses its way into every corner of the business: policies, procedures, etc. Even working conditions can reflect trust; where appropriate employees are allowed flex time and the ability to work remotely (two workplace features that are consistently positively correlated to satisfaction). This outpouring of trust is only possible though when employees make a reciprocal vow: to earn and return that trust every day. CAN YOU SAY ‘I DO’? To achieve the commitment required to realize today’s ambitious business goals, maybe it’s time to consider extending the metaphor of engagement to the next logical step. Marrying the hearts, heads, and hands of employees more closely to the organization involves writing your own vows or realistic agreements that both are willing to exchange and abide by. Until death do us part? Probably not. But a strong foundation for a mature, reciprocal relationship… that sounds like a match made in heaven. Image: "Wedding rings" by Jeff Belmonte from Cuiabá, Brazil - Flickr. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons This post originally appeared at SmartBlog on Leadership. The post Looking for Lasting Commitment… Beyond Engagement appeared first on Julie Winkle Giulioni.

Taylor Schulte's blog post was featuredReinventing Wealth Management: Why Embracing Leading-Edge Tech MattersI find it hard to recall a time when I didn’t google, send a text message or even deposit a check without leaving my office. The last two decades have generated innumerable technological innovations that have enhanced our daily lives, not to mention the way many companies conduct business.Industries across the globe scrupulously try to understand if and how any of these new tools and devices can improve operations. Will the cloud help streamline processes? The internet of everything is seemingly everywhere—should we care and how? Some companies instantly jump on the bandwagon and embrace new technologies, while others take time to shift company culture, change perception and adjust operations and processes.Regardless of which side you’re on at the moment—jumping in blindly or testing the waters, it is important to, at the very least, identify and understand all the new tools entering the marketplace. With mobility trends continuously on the rise and client expectations evolving, companies have no choice but to change the way they run their businesses.As a wealth manager, I have seen a number of new products enter the financial realm over the past decade—from financial planning software and Client Relationship Manager (CRM) programs to account aggregation, document management tools and mobile apps. And while our industry, as a whole, has embraced the concept of emerging technologies, we still have a long way to go to shift antiquated perceptions and ensure many financial advisors and wealth managers are implementing new solutions. Not only can these tools enable us to service our clients better, but they can also significantly improve our operations and make our jobs easier and more efficient. In fact, findings from a recent Fidelity survey showed that one-third of investors would switch advisors if they weren’t active technology users.While different industry professionals will continue to ask questions about which technology to use and how, I put together a few reasons as to why:EfficiencyAutomation technology offers speed and accessibility, helping advisors access data and communicate with clients at any time and from any location. Not only can it help advisors stay organized and on top of their workload and client needs, but it also frees up their time. Similarly, CRM enables advisors to more effectively and efficiently manage their practice by streamlining tasks and managing client information, while various financial planning software eliminate redundant manual processes, such as having to re-enter client information into separate systems.Connect With ClientsWith technology handling many of the jobs we used to do manually, we have more time to take on a wider range of clients and spend more time with them, building relationships with existing clients and seeking out new business. For instance, much of investment management can be implemented with technology these days. We no longer need to sit behind a computer screen and enter trades all day. We can focus on comprehensive planning and working with our clients face to face.Additionally, with so many next generation investors already expecting us to have the latest tools and communication methods, it’s to our advantage to showcase our expertise in these tools and connect with clients in a preferred matter—with some even via text messaging. This all adds up to a better customer experience and improved client service—and in a crowded space, that personal touch can make a world of a difference in your business.Mitigate RiskWe’ve all seen the rapid cloud progression—with businesses moving to the cloud to streamline operations, lower cost, improve service levels and, of course, security. As we embrace new technologies, we access tools that protect client information, which is critical in our business. No longer do we need to have drawers full paperwork and confidential documents stored on local computers—we can take advantage of secured infrastructures and still have access to data 24/7.Financial planning software can also minimize entry errors—instead of performing financial planning and analysis manually on an excel spreadsheet, we can use new programs and reduce the potential for error.In addition to the benefits listed above, the use of emerging technologies can be a major differentiator for your business. Clients expect us to be forward-thinking. Embracing new technologies, including instant communication methods, shows them we are on the forefront of our industry.Our job is to service clients and offer sophisticated solutions to improve their financial well-being, helping them sleep better at night. Many new tools exist to help us become more efficient, effective, and accessible, creating a better experience for our clients. At the end of the day, the ROI gained from happy clients (and their immediate families, friends and colleagues) can far outweigh the costs in researching and implementing the new technologies.Taylor Schulte, CFP, is founder and CEO of Define Financial.See More

We’ve all read or heard about the inspirational stories of those who persevered through adversity, disappointment, and rejection but tried just one more time… and enjoyed tremendous payoffs as a result. Henry Ford went broke five times before founding Ford Motor Company. Click to see panoramic view Dr. Seuss opened 27 rejection letters before publishing his first book. Walt Disney was fired for having ‘no imagination’. Colonel Sanders endured 1,000+ rejections before his now famous chicken recipe was picked up. Thomas Edison resolutely waded through 1,000 unsuccessful attempts before inventing the light bulb. And they were just that - stories - to me until last month when I had my own personal (albeit more modest) experience of the payoff of persistence.  While vacationing on a small island off the coast of Los Angeles this summer, my daughter Jenna and I decided to take a short afternoon hike. We’d not been on this trail before. My husband dropped us off and promised to return in 90 minutes. Jenna and I started up the moderately steep trail with many switchbacks looking at the native plants and casually chatting about life for the first 40 or so minutes. By then I was starting to get tired. Jenna had her eye on the next vista; I had mine on my watch. When I suggested turning around and heading back, my daughter pointed to the next lookout spot and implored, ‘just one more’. After four or five ‘just one mores’, I finally put my foot down (literally and figuratively). I told her that we’d see one final vista, then we would return. We arrived and enjoyed a beautiful view of one side of the island. As I turned to start heading back, Jenna pointed to the next clearing. ‘Just one more.’ I was tired, sweaty, and now really annoyed. Although it was less than 100 feet away, I felt compelled to stick to my position. It was a matter of principle.  I consented to letting her quickly check it out (only because I’d be able to see her every step of the way) while I held my ground. Jenna quickly ran up, hit the top, and stopped briefly before waving her arms wildly. What was I going to do? I followed her up and immediately saw what had generated her response. She’d arrived at a very unusual spot, a point where we could see both sides of the island. An incredible panoramic view was our payoff for persistence. In business and in life, how frequently do we stop just one vista short? How frequently do we watch the clock rather than keeping our eyes trained ahead and upward?  How frequently do we set arbitrary limits and hold our ground out of principle?  How frequently do we settle for ‘good’ when ‘outstanding’ is literally steps away? On this particular hike, 100 feet of dirt stood between me and a breathtakingly memorable view. What about you? What’s standing between you and success? What will it take for you to carry your passions and projects that final 100 feet? The post Persistence and the Panoramic View appeared first on Julie Winkle Giulioni.

Michael McQuinn's blog post was featuredDigital Risk Management: Why Cybersecurity Measures Aren't EnoughMost companies of scale have cybersecurity measures in place - software solutions, policies and protocols, and regular assessments conducted by IT staff members around compliance and efficacy. With these measures in place, the executive management team might feel confident that their digital data is secure - until they’re blind-sided by crisis-inducing error or a data leakage event.Equating cybersecurity to digital risk management is a catastrophic mistake. Cybersecurity is only one element of the comprehensive strategy required to effectively manage digital risk across an enterprise.Digital risk management is a complex endeavor requiring real-time monitoring, strategic information architecture and advanced expertise in many areas related to technology, development, operations, data integrations and information systems. And, while cybersecurity is an important component, it is but one of the five critical pillars of digital risk management which include:Cybersecurity protocols around systems breaches, incident management, and known exploit prevention.Data Loss Prevention measures that protect against system failure, corruption and accidental overwriting and deletion.Data Leakage Prevention protocols that ensure that users do not send confidential information outside of the organizational network.Availability protections that ensure that critical business processes aren’t disrupted due to application downtime.Governance policies with respect to obligation, regulation, compliance, client contractual requirements and data custodianship.Traditional IT departments lack the cross-functional expertise required to adequately manage digital risk across these five areas. In fact, Gartner recently published the results of an executive survey which revealed that an estimated 60% of large-scale enterprises will experience a significant digital breach attributable to the IT security team’s inability to manage digital risk with respect to new technologies, the proliferation of connected devices, and interdependencies. Gartner’s survey also showed that one-third of large scale enterprises reliant on digital models and activities will have hired a digital risk officer by 2017. In a related report titled "Top 10 Strategic Predictions for Businesses to Watch out For," Gartner estimates that digital businesses will require 50% less IT business process workers and 500% more digital jobs by 2018.This vast and radical shift in IT staffing across industries means that organizations will be scrambling to find candidates to fill digital risk positions. In the interim, IT department staff will lack the requisite skill set to effectively assess and manage digital risk at both a strategic and tactical level.What can large scale organizations do to avoid falling into the 60% that will experience breach?Recognize That Digital Risk Management Extends Beyond CybersecurityThe key point here is that the failure to integrate all aspects of digital risk management directly lead to digital crises.For instance, with respect to Anthem’s recent breach that will likely expose the company to liability in the billions, it’s widely believed that hackers infiltrated the health care provider’s networks by using a sophisticated malicious software program that allowed them access to the login credentials of an Anthem employee. Preventing this event would have involved better data management with sound encryption policies, which fall under the pillar of data leakage prevention.And the infamous Target breach?  It’s believed that the architecture of this attack was sequential, starting with infiltration through a third-party vendor.  From there, hackers leveraged Target’s vendor portal access to gain control of the retailer’s servers and from there hijacked the point-of-sale systems.  Experts widely believe that if Target had detected and countered any of these stepping stones in progress, the attack would likely have fallen apart. Better governance policies would have enabled Target to understand their vendor’s digital risk, and any potential consequences that risk would bear on Target’s brand and balance sheet.Conduct Independent Cross-Functional Reviews to Create Checks and BalancesAccording to a report issued by Online Trust Alliance in January 2015, over 90% of the data breaches that occurred during the first half of 2014 occurred as a result of the combination of human error and poorly designed workflows.  The report states these breaches could have been prevented if organizations had appropriate digital risk management strategies and policies in place.[5]In traditional enterprise structure, digital risk evaluation is conducted by non-engineers who require the participation of the people they are assessing, basically turning evaluations into self-assessments. There are no checks and balances to confirm that best practices are being followed and digital risk is being properly managed for the organization. The need for independent assessment becomes crystal clear. Independent review provides digital risk transparency by providing accurate and timely reporting around potential risk factors.Integrate Subject Matter Experts that Have the Skills Required to Properly Manage Digital RiskThe staggering instances of human error and poorly designed workflows also brings to light that a significant skills gaps exist within IT departments. This is understandable given that comprehensive digital risk management requires highly specialized knowledge of data management and protection practices, advanced systems engineering and architecture, and defensive architecture for public-facing applications to ensure that the organization has clear and continuous oversight to achieve optimal digital risk protection and avoid breach. Internally hiring engineers of this caliber would be cost-prohibitive for any organization, yet it is critical to give IT teams the help they need to succeed in protecting digital assets in an increasingly complex technological landscape.Michael McQuinn is co-founder and CTO of Criterion Advisory.See More

Guest post by Susan Fowler This post celebrates the launch of Susan Fowler’s fascinating new book, Why Motivating People Doesn’t Work . . . and What Does: The New Science of Leading, Energizing, and Engaging.  It was originally published on 8/5/2014 at www.leaderchat.org. Can you fill-in-the-blanks on these common workplace belief statements? It’s not personal, it is just ________. The purpose of business is to _____ _______. We need to hold people ___________. The only thing that really matters is _______. If you cannot measure it, it _________ ________. We have embedded these beliefs so deep in our collective psyche that I bet you do not even need to check your answers. However, just because these belief statements are common does not mean they are legitimate. In fact, holding these beliefs may be undermining your ability to effectively cultivate a motivating environment for those you lead. In this blog we will explore the first eroding belief: "It’s not personal, it is just business."   Are You Kidding? As a manager, you deliver information, feedback, or news to an individual that affects his or her work, livelihood, opportunities, status, income, mood, health, and/or well-being. How is this not personal? On average, employees spend 75% of their waking hours connected to work—getting ready for work, getting to work, working, returning home from work, and decompressing. Oftentimes, employees spend more time interacting with coworkers than family members. Yet managers believe their actions are not personal and just business? Are you kidding? Getting at the Root of the Belief Trust me, what you say and do feels personal to the people you lead! Therein lies the issue. The new "F-word" in business, it seems, is Feelings. Is this because we hold a belief that expressing feelings does not belong in the workplace? If so, where did this belief come from? Feelings are discouraged in business because managers do not have the skill to effectively deal with them. True, some employees do not self-regulate well and may let their emotions get the best of them from time-to-time. But the fear of unruly emotions is disproportionate to the occurrence and severity of emotional outbreaks. Research shows that even though people judge their work environment both emotionally and cognitively, emotions are the primary determinant of their sense of well-being[1]. As a manager, your actions strongly influence the outcome of an individual’s appraisal that results in a sense of well-being—or not. If you do not notice, acknowledge, and deal with a person’s emotions, you may unwittingly be undermining that sense of well-being that is the vital link to a person’s intentions and behavior. Try this for the next month: Instead of holding on to a traditional belief that potentially undermines people’s motivation, listen to your heart and acknowledge the crucial role that feelings play in work and life. Try changing that traditional belief to: "If it is business, it must be personal." Watch how your leadership changes as your belief changes. Then notice the positive affect your changed belief has on those you lead.   [1] Zigarmi, D., Nimon, K., Houson, D., Witt, D., & Diehl, J. (2011). A preliminary field test of an employee work passion model. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 22(2), 195-221.http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/hrdq.20076/abstract Zigarmi, D., Houson, D., Witt, D., and Diehl, J. 2011. Employee Work Passion Connecting the Dots. Escondido, California. The Ken Blanchard Companies.http://www.kenblanchard.com/img/pub/Blanchard_Employee_Passion_Vol_3.pdf Susan Fowler has 30 years’ experience as a researcher, consultant, and coach in over 30 countries around the globe in the field of leadership. As an expert in the field of personal empowerment, she is the lead developer of The Ken Blanchard Company’s Optimal Motivation product line, as well as Situational Self Leadership, their best-of-class self leadership and personal empowerment program. Susan is the bestselling co-author of three books with Ken Blanchard: Self Leadership And The One-Minute Manager, Leading At A Higher Level, and Empowerment. A catalyst for growth, Susan also authored the audio programs Overcoming Procrastination and Mentoring. She is a Senior Consulting Partner at The Ken Blanchard Companies, and a professor in the Master of Science Leadership Program at the University of San Diego. The post Rethinking 1 Key Belief That Erodes Motivation appeared first on Julie Winkle Giulioni.