Several years ago I was struck by the way most organisations handled cyber security, a continually defensive effort that metaphorically only involved building higher and thicker walls, and requiring more and more vigilance from every busy employee while demanding ever more technical knowledge from practitioners.

This was in sharp contrast to watching American Football, where a Defense is in a similar position to cyber security teams - they can’t attack or “win”, but must resolutely defend and be worn down as slowly as possible. But they are a source of innovation and aggression, studying their attackers continually, rushing their opponents into quick decisions, and overall a tightly co-ordinated group of near-psychic practitioners frustrating their adversaries. What a useful example for cyber security “blue teams” to follow, if only I could demonstrate the connection.

So I tried to explain how useful this overall way of thinking could be, while also
drawing on sources as diverse as professional Tekken players, OODA, and TRIZ.

My ideas landed with some, but not many, and it became clear that I needed to work on my explanations - my talent for making these leaps, combined with how much time I’d spent thinking about them in advance - meant a lot more effort was needed than I’d foreseen.

And in the meantime I started making more notes on other strategies I’d seen that felt particularly useful or interesting, that I’d like to understand more thoroughly, and that could be useful to others, if only I could get to the core of their form.

This newsletter is that endeavour.

Frequently Asked Questions

What topics does this newsletter cover?

This newsletter will take strategies from any domain - initially inspired by sports, conflict, or business - and extract out their key aspects and abstract them. The reader can then apply those abstract aspects to their specific situation, and see if it solves their problem, or gives them a new angle for their own situation.

  • Answer version 0.2, 23rd September 2025.

How often will I receive new issues?

New issues of the newsletter will be sent out when they’re ready. This idea has been forming for a while, I’m using this newsletter as a way to concentrate on a particular idea and get something finished on it, rather than waiting for the perfect description to coalesce.

Everyone has more to read than they’ve time for, and inboxes full of unread newsletters; I’m aiming for these newsletters to catch people serendipitously, or to become a repository of useful ideas that people go to when they’re stuck, not something else that people struggle to fit into their daily routine.

I’m avoiding posting schedules because they’re something writers usually trudge through, or fill up in advance, and either way you can usually tell.

  • Answer version 0.2, 23rd September 2025.

What if I have feedback or topic suggestions?

I’m currently working out what feedback mechanisms I should include, if any. It might be that all newsletters are effectively standalone, and if anyone has a question or a comment they can use their preferred social media platform.

  • Answer version 0.2, 23rd September 2025.

What stage of development is this at?

This is at the experimental stage, and is currently being developed within Dave Gray’s “Project Kairos”.

Also I’m finding the Beehiiv interface “interesting”, and it’s creating more friction to just getting ideas out than I hoped, so we’ll see how that goes.

  • Answer version 0.2, 23rd September 2025.

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