S4E5: Robert Wood - The Soft Side of Cyber

Chris: First off, why do you think soft skills are so often overlooked or undervalued in our field of cybersecurity?

Chris: I'm curious your perspective on how to help people build soft skills, much like technical skills, some may have more of an aptitude for technical work or prefer not interacting with people as often. Any advice for folks who may be a bit more of an introvert and finding dealing with people intimidating?

Niki: I wanted to first talk about the Learning resources you have on your site - the softsideofcyber.com - I am a big fan of this area because you include everything from books and articles to newsletters. Can you talk a little bit about why you included this section and what you're hoping to do with it in the future? 

Nikki: This may seem like a silly question - but clarity and definitions for terminology and language are really important. People talk about 'soft skills' in a lot of ways. What does 'soft skills' mean to you and how have these skills aided you in your career? 

Nikki: What is the perfect balance of technical and 'soft skills' - do you feel like it depends on your role? Or do you feel like this balance is essential, regardless of your role? 

Chris: You recently wrote an article on CSO online about unleashing the power of an effective security engineering team. While you did discuss technical skills you also wove in content from folks such as Sidney Dekker and Adam Grant. How do you feel like diversifying your learning outside of technical topics has helped you be more successful in your own roles and career?

Nikki: Do you feel like 'soft skills' expands from empathy and emotional intelligence to an understanding of cognitive bias, mental workloads, and other psychological phenomena?

Chris: What's next for the Soft Side of Cyber? What projects are you working on and what are you hoping to do with this in the next 6 months?

Nikki: Since I know what cyber resiliency means to you in a technical context, can you expand on what this means to you in the 'soft skills' and human context?