Ha, AI… made you look.
I have this challenge I face at work, and it naturally boils over into my home life. How am I supposed to keep up with a fast paced, ever changing technology field, especially being in cybersecurity? We preach that in order to be successful in this field you have to stay on top of current trends; you must be a student of learning.
Well, if I can just climb on my soapbox for a second… that sounds exhausting. I am exhausted just thinking about having to constantly learn new things all the time, something new around every corner! “What? A new thing? I just learned a new thing!” I say this to myself all the time. Okay, off the soapbox… don’t give up on me yet.
Here’s the truth. Things are changing and evolving all the time, and as professionals in any industry it is up to us to maintain a certain level of knowledge on current events and emerging trends. And I think we can all acknowledge that it is hard. So, here are some strategies I’m actively engaging to keep up the bleeding edge of information security.
I’m not out here to be an expert in everything. I can’t be an expert in everything, and I accept that as the whole truth. Instead, I’d rather lean into the areas that I have experience in, or that at least relate to the things I have experience in, and grow from there. It’s amazing how experience bases can be woven together to create a really unique path when we reach just outside our functional area to embrace something new in a neighboring space.
Next, let me repeat myself, I can’t be an expert in everything, BUT, I can be good at identifying the voices of those who ARE experts. That’s somewhere I’m happy to invest time. There’s a common saying that, generally restated, talks about how valuable it is to not be the smartest person in the room. I love this, and I believe one of the best ways to learn (and to challenge your own understanding) is to seek out those who have made a certain topic their main focus. You’ll likely never have the level of understanding they have, but you’ll be able to share their learnings in conjunction with the efforts you may undertake. Just remember, always give credit where credit is due.
Lastly, find what makes you go, “WOW, that’s cool”, and pursue that. Today, the opportunity to learn is endless. There are plenty of established industries that we don’t necessarily understand right now, but if investigated, could help improve the things we focus on. There are completely new areas like AI (see I said it). Areas where you’ve got plenty of time to jump in and become a leading contributor and voice. Find what excites you, that makes learning that much more feasible, not to mention enjoyable.
In the end, you have to find a good rhythm for learning new things. Start with reading articles (blogs maybe), that’ll get you exposed to new voices. Use AI! AI tools today are excellent at summarizing topics and concepts, which can help you decide if you want to dig more or not. Build some guardrails around what you’re trying to learn and what’s out of scope for this round. Finally, be ready to teach someone else what you’ve learned. In one capacity or another. That’s how we pass the test. Then rinse and repeat.