003: How 3 Japanese Concepts Changed My Career and Life Forever (And So Can It Yours)

Read Time: 3 Minutes

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You can't make a great pizza unless you have a great dough and the right recipe. Even if you followed the recipe every time, if the dough isn't done right, it won't turn out well. It won't be your best outcome. It won't be the best pizza. That's true for cybersecurity. That's true for AI. That's even true for your career. If you don't get the basics right, the outcome will never be great.

The basics will always be fundamental and a key ingredient for success. Basic sounds simple, but it's not easy. Basic feels boring, but it's quite consequential.

99% of people get tired of the basics very fast. The other 1% know the reality. The other 1% get the desired outcomes.

I can tell you, from my experience over the last 20 years, if you get bored with the basics:

• You can't be successful in cybersecurity.

• You can't be successful in business.

• You can't be successful in life.

The so-called “basic” is the winning formula.

I went from a hacker to a CISO in just 4 years, not because I was lucky. Sure, I did things that grew my luck surface (that's a whole post for another time). But I also continued to do the basics right, over and over, every time.

Over the last 20 years, I have seen it. I still see many pros and firms struggle with the basics. I see security leaders, CISOs, CEOs, and the boards struggle with the basics. So do executive teams and many others. But, these basics make up the 20% that really matters.

True innovation is in the boring basics of building a great product or service under the hood. Every fancy, shiny tool that works incredibly has the boring basics done right under the hood. Even great leaders need kindness, empathy, and good decision making. These are old ideas we keep on forgetting. Humans are wired for empathy. That's something we've known for a long time.

Tech can change. People can change. Businesses can change. Doing the basics right will remain key forever.

The basics will always be fundamental to success. That’s what separates the 1% from the rest.

Even in today's 21st century,

• True success is in doing the basics well, over and over again.

• True cybersecurity is in doing the basics and getting it right.

• True innovation is in building the basics as a solid foundation.

I see a big mistake that professionals make. It happens in AI, cybersecurity, career, and leadership. They constantly get lured by shiny objects, fancy drills, and silver bullets. Let's take an example. Generative AI has taken the world by storm in the last two years. There are many predictions about it. Elon Musk recently predicted that we'll reach Artificial General Intelligence within the next two years. In reality, there's no predicting the future. Futurist is a funny job and title.

The best "prediction" of the future is to create it. To create the future you want, fundamentals and the basics will always be key.

How do you create that future for your career and life?

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3 Japanese concepts that changed my career and life (and so can it yours):

Almost 10 years ago, I came across these concepts that changed the way I approach my career.

Great careers aren't built by luck. Let's say you want to be a security leader. You need to be intentional and love the "boring" basics. You need to have the ability to repeat those basics over and over again, consistently.

I wasn't always thinking like that. I would chase the next shiny object. We usually believe it will fix all the problems. These problems could be with cybersecurity or our career. That's when I discovered three Japanese concepts. I applied them to my career and it changed the way I thought and 10x'd my career and life.

No. 1 Kihon (基本)

Translation: Fundamentals or Basics

There isn't any silver bullet. Effective cybersecurity doesn't rely on shiny boxes. Successful careers don't rely on fancy titles. Great leadership doesn't rely on flashy stages.

18-year-olds are hacking big organizations like Uber using social engineering. With AI, it's becoming simpler and more accessible for hackers to turn to the dark side. There are real-world stories about scams and bank heists that use deepfakes. They trick humans into transferring money to the cybercriminals under false pretexts.

No-code code is everywhere. It has made English as the new "programming" language.

You will need tools and tactics for better cyberdefense. But, the answer isn't a fancy tool. It's having basic cyber hygiene. That is the 20% that will give you the 80% outcome.

That's also true for great leadership. Micromanagers are never great leaders. Great leadership requires understanding. You must grasp the needs and motivations of those who look up to you. Great leadership requires empathy. The same is true for you building and growing your career 10x.

When I moved from Germany to Norway, I got a 100% success rate. I got offers for all 3 jobs I applied to. All I did was believe in myself and follow the basics. Read the story here.

No matter where you are coming from, the basics will be key to your growth and success.

Executing successfully in both career and life isn't for you if you cannot love the basics.

Basic is the winning formula. It's simple, but it's not easy.

The basics might change and evolve over time, but the basics will never go "out of fashion". Imagine how many devices have been created by humans just to allow us to make a great pizza dough. It's always been in fashion and will continue to be.

A majority of us want to get from 0 to 100 fast. You can increase the speed, but there is no overnight success. There’s no avoiding the basics. Instead, you need to constantly do the basics. You must do them over and over and do them well, every time.

There's no overnight success. To win at anything, you don't need to do it perfectly, but you do need to do it well consistently.

No. 2 Kaizen (改善)

Translation: Continuous improvement

Once you know how to make a dough and a good pizza out of it, it's time for taking it to the next level. That doesn't happen overnight. Every time you make pizza, if you made it just slightly better than last time, your improvements will add up. Soon enough, you'll be making great pizzas.

Once I became a hacker, I didn't stop there. I started to understand business stakeholders. I learned what mattered to them and how to help. That's how I got into risk management. I led teams and projects on improved risk management for key stakeholders. This included the C-suite. I took part in many conversations and workshops. In these, I listened to the customer, the business, and others. I helped them with their pain points. Soon, I understood that I could do more and help the whole business. That's what paved my path from hacker to CISO.

Even though I went from a hacker to a CISO in just 4 years, it was much longer in the making. I learned the art of risk management, storytelling, communication, and marketing. I learned it when I was a hacker. Small incremental yet continuous improvements is what led me to where I am today.

Best professionals are lifelong learners.

Great leaders are lifelong learners.

The top 1% are lifelong learners.

You will never regret one thing. It's investing in and improving yourself. Do it every day.

Success is rarely an overnight phenomenon. Small incremental progress leads to big wins.

No. 3 Shuhari (守破離)

Translation: Aikido term that represents three stages of learning: "Shu" (守) - protect, "Ha" (破) - break, and "Ri" (離) - separate

This one Japanese concept has attributed to my entire career's growth.

Step 1: Shu: Follow the basics.

I had never worked as a hacker before I got my first job as a hacker. I started by doing the basics. I followed those who had come before me and paved the way for us. For me, that was my mentor. He was a famous hacker turned CEO, Jeremiah Grossman. He was the former CEO and founder of Whitehat Security and BitDiscovery. That's no. 1 advice I can give you. Learn from your mentors and those who have done it. Your career path is unique. But, following the basic guidelines from those who have made it will speed your journey 10x.

Step 2: Ha: Innovate beyond the basics.

Great careers aren't built by luck. They aren't built by coincidence. They aren't built by following the crowd.

Great careers are built by challenging the status quo.

Great careers don’t build by themselves. You have to "kiss" some frogs. You have to go through rejections. You also have to reject what’s not right for you. The basics are mandatory. But they're not enough to get extraordinary results.

Step 3: Ri: Create your unique path

Go beyond the basics. Be intentional with every choice. If you do, I promise you will find a career, an employer, a business, a culture that values you. I learned from those who came before me. I learned from my mentor. But, you'll see his and my career journey are wildly different. He never worked as a CISO. I went from a hacker to a CISO in just 4 years. Learn from the ones that came before you, then go beyond and create your own mark.

Every extraordinary person today was once ordinary who paved their own path.

How do you find and create your unique path in cybersecurity? I outline it here fully in this video.

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To build your career and life on your terms, loving the boring basics will be fundamental:

💡 Rule No. 1: The basics is simple. But it isn't easy. Never forget the basics.

💡 Rule No. 2: There is not overnight success. Focus on continuous improvement.

💡 Rule No. 3: Extraordinary outcomes requires extraordinary approach. Go beyond and build your path.

The above concepts are simple yet quite profound. Apply them and let me know. I would love to hear from you.

Great careers are rarely built by accident. Go build your career and life on your terms, and I’ll see you next time.

P.S: In my upcoming Guide to Break into Security Leadership, I'll show you how to break into a security leadership role and 10x your career. Add yourself to the waiting list here.

Here's what you'll get:
✅ My decade long and proven framework to nail that interview
✅ A practical guide with actionable insights from 20 years of experience
✅ Why right now is the best time to work in cybersecurity and become a leader
✅ Why security leadership is 5% technology, 5% risk management and 90% negotiation
✅ The framework I used to go from hacker to CISO with proven, actionable and no bs tips (how you can do it too)

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–– Monica

Monica Verma

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