1.- Of the uncertainty
A few days ago, I was reading a very good article by Professor Juan Sobejano, regarding the way to manage uncertainty. It is clear in the article that uncertainty is a concept that for all people and businesses represents some degree of concern, not because of the meaning of this per se, but because of how we can ignore the environment where we are inserted, be it in business or in life itself. Professor Sobejano quotes “the human being tries to manage his life from the known. Certainty, in these cases, is a cushion that mitigates the instability of unwanted or expected change ”
We also know that it is not possible to control all aspects of the environment and that we must therefore accept a certain degree of uncertainty. This is because a certain degree of uncertainty is the source of innovation, which is very important today, especially in business, since it allows obtaining the necessary adaptability to ever-changing environments.
However, the article suspends a series of questions, many of which are not so easy to answer. We already know that a certain degree of uncertainty gives us a certain degree of flexibility and capacity for innovation. But how much degree? What is our tolerance for uncertainty? How do we know that we are approaching the threshold of acceptable uncertainty?
For years, universities and business schools teach us that the more information we have about the environment, the more control we will have over the variables that govern it and, therefore, the greater ability to compete for market share for a given product or service. Thus, it is easy to conclude that the uncertainty is inversely proportional to the degree of knowledge of the environment. However, we will see that obtaining an important degree of knowledge of the environment, and therefore, reducing its uncertainties, is not so simple. In the world of knowledge, the amount of information that crosses the internet skies is incredibly high. However, quantity does not always mean quality. And so, in this ocean of references, articles, posts and all kinds of interventions,Searching for quality information that can serve or guide decision-making in a company becomes a task that requires a significant amount of time. And given that in business time is money, the entrepreneur or entrepreneur will seldom have the necessary time available to find what he needs to know to reduce his spaces of uncertainty. The company is a dynamic entity and one that, like a ship, must be permanently attended to.
This is particularly important for smaller companies, where the entire organization is focused on advancing its core business and there is relatively little concern about the way the environment where the company is located is moving, not for lack of interest, but because it often moves faster than you would like. This is something like those video games where the player moves through a map that he discovers as he progresses. This, in the business environment, is quite dangerous, since it can bring the company closer to limits that it does not want to cross and, worse still, inadvertently.
We said then that the uncertainty is inversely proportional to the degree of knowledge and domain of the environment. A question asked by Professor Sobejano was how to manage uncertainty? This is how is uncertainty incorporated into the organization?
The truth is that if we do not have some basic substrate to work with, the question can acquire as many different answers as people who are asked. And that obviously has no practical use.
2.- Uncertainty and security
It seems that both terms are the first the problem and the second the solution. But no. That is not the idea. We must understand that in few areas of business there is greater uncertainty than security. Here my colleagues from other areas will tell me that in all areas there is as much or more uncertainty than in security. And it may be true. What happens is that unlike the other areas, the following happens in security:
- It is difficult to obtain much information regarding new security trends, since the environments are all different. That is, we may see that in a certain city there is such and such a security trend, but that trend will only be valid in places that have more or less the same configuration as the city under study. And applying these solutions in different places may not be the best or simply be a complete failure. This happens because innovations are structured based on a problem present in a certain area that requires resolution. This barrier, over the years, has led to the greatest innovation occurring in an area limited by security, such as technology. This improves cameras, alarms and all kinds of accessories, but not the base itself,which is how these resources will be used. Security is a cross-cutting aspect of organizations and people. It may have a surname, citizen security or private security, but the trunk is common, which we understand as a state free of threats or the feeling of well-being that allows activities to be carried out with a certain tranquility. Now, unlike the other areas of business, where uncertainty is more or less limited to certain spaces and factors, it is in security where we find it most frequently. This is because markets, social, political, economic, legal security instabilities and a long etcetera all impact where it is: this feeling of security for people and organizations. In other words, financially,the impacts could come from the markets or from a certain political or financial action that causes some instability. In sales, the uncertainty will be given by the products and the company's ability to stay ahead of trends to stay current. In security, impact can come from anywhere. In few areas of business, common sense plays as important a role as security, even serving as support for decision-making. If we talk about Marketing, for example, we will have to know a lot about digital marketing if our decisions go for the change from direct Marketing to digital. However, if it is security, our common sense will suffice to tell us whether our level of security is acceptable or not, and if it is not, what would be the measures to increase this level.
3.- From the seller of certainty
It is in security, I think more than in any other area of business, where it is easy to appreciate the poor contribution that consultants have made to reduce the uncertainties of this matter. This, added to the fact of great technological innovations and the strong influence of common sense, has caused the greatest advances to be made in tools, especially technological ones. This is similar to buying a buildable toy and not including instructions for putting it together. Although there is a probability that the owner will be able to put it together, there are great possibilities that it will not, get frustrated and assume it was a lousy acquisition. That is, the benefit of assembling the toy loses all value compared to the efforts expended on its assembly. In security, the same thing happened for years.The world was filled with all kinds of security elements, such as cameras, guards, accessories, alarms, etc. But the customer was never properly told what to do with it. Or rather, he was never told how to use it efficiently. This obviously is not the fault of the vendors of security tools, but of an entire system. Thus, from the frustration of having made an investment that does not get the benefits intended to think that security is not an investment but a cost, there was only one step. As Professor Arnoldo Hax points out in his writings, the client was commoditized. There were no vendors of certainty, only vendors of tools.he was never told how to use it efficiently. This obviously is not the fault of the vendors of security tools, but of an entire system. Thus, from the frustration of having made an investment that does not get the benefits intended to think that security is not an investment but a cost, there was only one step. As Professor Arnoldo Hax points out in his writings, the client was commoditized. There were no vendors of certainty, only vendors of tools.he was never told how to use it efficiently. This obviously is not the fault of the vendors of security tools, but of an entire system. Thus, from the frustration of having made an investment that does not get the benefits intended to think that security is not an investment but a cost, there was only one step. As Professor Arnoldo Hax points out in his writings, the client was commoditized. There were no vendors of certainty, only vendors of tools.customer was commoditized. There were no vendors of certainty, only vendors of tools.customer was commoditized. There were no vendors of certainty, only vendors of tools.
The job of a security consultant, like me or many others, should be just that. Sell certainty. Offer a guarantee that the security system will be optimized according to customer requirements. If those requirements involve tools such as cameras, guards or any other, our job is to evaluate which one is the best for our client and which will comply with their requirements as strictly as possible. We must always be updated, not in the latest camera systems or alarms that exist in the market, since for that we can consult the catalogs if they ask us to. We must know everything necessary in the environment of the organization, in order to anticipate and facilitate the decision-making of our clients.The reduction of security uncertainty is fundamentally about knowing and designing processes and procedures that consider the overall context of the organization, in the financial, commercial, operational and security aspects as such. We must be able to be heads of company security without being present at them at all times and contribute to the objectives of the company's business model. To do this, we must be able to understand our client's core business, the methods by which our solutions will be integrated into it, and how we will commit to their objectives and goals. The seller of certainty must be able to integrate into the business model of a company in such a way that its presence generates a positive and measurable impact on the operations of the organization.
