“Reputation is what other people know about you. Honor is what you know about yourself.”

                   —Lois McMaster Bujold

So for my first Dan’s New Leaf post of the year, I was going to write about the new GPT store and how there is a GPT that could “replace me,” and how I am willing to accept that challenge.  I was going to demonstrate how we should EMBRACE AI, instead of fear it.

But then . . . before I finished that article, I heard about yet another employee missing yet another family event.  And it struck me that many may not know the sacrifices our team makes, to ensure the safety of our Clients.  One of those team members had mentioned how he or she (keeping it confidential) wasn’t able to attend the normal Christmas dinner this year.

“Yeah, that’s the way it goes sometimes,” was the best answer I could muster.

He or she was not complaining.  We all get it, this is what it means to be an infotex team member.  It is part of the “honor” our Clients give us, by letting us watch their back.

And the Client always comes first.

Our team members often miss family gatherings, friends’ weddings, family dinners and birthdays, and other events that, if you worked “normal hours,” you would not miss.  We often work through lunch and dinner.  Breakfast and brunch.

No amount of compensation makes up for that.

Except for . . . possibly . . . the honor we privately bestow upon ourselves.

I’m sure the team knows how much I value their willingness to staff the Managed Security Operations Center 24 x 7.  (Normally we add x365 to that, but this year it’s 24x7x366, thanks to February 29th). We talk about “loving the work” and “making your job more lovable” here at infotex, but let’s face it, the reason we call it “work” is there are always going to be the mundane things nobody wants to do.  We do them because we have to, in order to meet our mission.

So for 366 days this year, I will be grateful to the three people showing up to watch our Client’s networks. Three shifts per day.  21 shifts per week.  All without regard to the personal lives of our Data Security Analysts.  It’s as if they are standing watch at the proverbial castle wall, quietly ensuring the safety of the kingdom, without anybody knowing.

And thus this article:  do our extended families and friends know the extent of this sacrifice?

This Dan’s New Leaf is for those extended family members and those friends who don’t know what we do.  We empower our Clients to manage technology risk.  That risk is present 24x7x365.  As a team, we find honor in our mission.

At a high level, “managing technology risk” sounds great.  When we explain what we do (guard networks), it still seems cool . . . at least to us.

But in reality, it means our auditors work Sundays to be ready for that Monday audit meeting.  Our Data Security Analysts are often too tired to do anything when they DO get time off.  And we miss events in our personal lives.

Our Data Security Analysts all share the responsibility of working the graveyard shift (midnight to 8am).  Working 24×7 is not just about the midnight shift – it’s more about having to show up for that afternoon meeting – dead tired – because you worked the 12am-8am shift.  Think about it, a 3pm meeting when your shift ends at 8am means that, if you “normally” end your day at 5pm, you’d be attending a meeting at midnight. 

What binds us together — what keeps us going — is our mission is to empower our Clients.  Banks are about managing risk.  Because they feel safe, they can proceed with confidence in their planned risk-taking.

There is honor in that mission.

And hey – I’m not the only one on the infotex team suffering from “the hero complex.”  Fortunately, because we are where the rubber meets the road, our DSA’s “feel the satisfaction” of preventing yet another jerk from compromising yet another system.

And our auditors are required to be DSAs.  They need the honor.

We love it when we stop that threat, keeping our Client’s safe.  It’s what we live for.  It’s why during the last “community incident” – one that affected several of our Clients – every single team member stopped what they were doing, and got involved.

This has never surprised me.  My dad was the president of a volunteer fire department for 25 years, and our team reminds me of those volunteers.  They lived for the fire.  When they heard the siren go off, they stopped what they were doing and headed to the fire barn, knowing there was a good chance they would be risking their lives.

And they were always listening for that siren.

No compensation made up for that.  But the honor of being able to save people was their compensation.

In this post, meant for extended family and friends, let me end with a message to the “core family.”  We are so grateful to you, for tolerating the strange schedule your loved one works, in that honorable effort to protect our Clients.  We know this affects you too.  We appreciate that you value the “honor” your loved one bestows upon his or her self, as a member of the infotex team.  And we respect your sacrifice too.

There is honor in it.

Thank you.