The art of being ungovernable

In this edition of the Threat Source newsletter, William explores the value of being "ungovernable" in a professional setting, sharing how challenging the status quo and seeking out the smartest people in the room can lead to a more fulfilling and successful career.

Welcome to this week’s edition of the Threat Source newsletter.    “It takes very little to govern good people.  Very little. And bad people can’t be governed at all. Or if they could, I never heard of it. ” ― Cormac McCarthy, No Country for Old Men   Most of my career has been built on dichotomy: striving to be a supportive teammate while also pushing every boundary in front of me.

 I've often been told to “never do X, only do Y,” but I’ve invariably chosen to do X anyway (even when fraught with peril) to get to the deeper answer. For years, I was told that I should perform in certain ways — instead of in ways that made sense for my brain and way of learning.   I wasn’t governable, but I wasn’t bad. Just ... challenging. While Sheriff Ed Tom Bell’s view of good vs. bad is compelling, maybe our careers should be defined as “acquiescent” vs. “challenging.

” It’s less of an existential crisis that way.   Over the past few years, I’ve been enjoying the mentoring aspect of my career. One of the things that I love to share with people is that being ungovernable is very challenging early in career; it’snot a favorite of middle management, but it can take you to places that you really want to be (i. e. , Talos). The road is going to be longer and much bumpier than your governable cohort, but this is the long con.

  The path to Talos was long and arduous, but I've learned to make my career choices through the lens of the axiom, “If you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room. ” It's been the only guidepost I’ve needed. I don’t know that it applies to everyone, because everyone is unique, but it absolutely helps me decide what I want to learn, what I want to dive into, who I want to surround myself with.   The secret lies in the last comment — it's the people.

If you continue to search for the smartest people in the room, you’ll find it and when you do, you’ll find that you aren’t ungovernable — rather, you’re understood. Be ungovernable (but kind) in the short term, find new ways to solve problems, think around solutions in new ways, program in different languages, and be the person in the meeting that says, “I think we should do Y instead, and here’s why. ”  I suspect that this is the same approach many of you already take in your daily roles when identifying threats vs.

benign activity, choosing your pivots in hunting, or deciding the priorities in device replacement.