Review of The Smartest Person in the Room
- Min Pham
- Posts: 8
- Joined: 12 May 2021, 09:08
- Currently Reading: Chameleons
- Bookshelf Size: 25
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-min-pham.html
- Latest Review: The Smartest Person in the Room by Christian Espinosa
- Reading Device: B00JG8GOWU
Review of The Smartest Person in the Room
The Smartest Person in the room by Christian Espinosa is the first book about cybersecurity that I have read, exciting me. Cybercrime is one of the most widespread problems these days, as criminals can access any information they want, even the institutional information just using a computer. A lot of professionals in the industry underestimate the significant roles of cybersecurity. Many people fail to protect their companies' data.
Christian Espinosa, a founder of Alpine Security, has been helping technical employees become the smartest person in the room. This book will help technical people identify underlying issues and insecurities that minimise their self-confidence and development. The flow is direct, conversational, and logical. Additionally, Secure Methodology, which consists of seven steps: awareness, mindset, acknowledgment, communication, monotasking, empathy, and kaizen, supports technical people to improve their skills, especially in beating cybercriminals.
"Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve" - Napoleon Hill. I have found this quote in the fourth section - mindset, which is also my favorite section. There are two types of mindsets, fixed and growth mindsets. Before explaining those two mindsets, the author introduces us to the NLP Presuppositions for mindsets, whereas we are in charge of our minds. I agree with this point; our thoughts will affect our confidence and lives. People with a fixed mindset may not be open to new ideas or think everything is impossible. They often say, "I'm not that good at that." or "I can't learn it.", which will stop them from delivering their best version to the company. On the other hand, people with a growth mindset are different, whereas they consider failure an opportunity to learn, their effort and attitude determine their abilities, etc.
The only thing I dislike in this book is how the author targeted his reader. It will be dissatisfied for cybersecurity students when they cannot improve their data protecting skills because this book does not suggest any computer programs. At the same time, it will confuse non-tech people, whereas the author uses many technical terminologies. They need to re-read some parts to understand what he is saying. If he wants his targeted reader to be technical people, please go deeper into the programming. I will deduct one star from my rate. However, I do appreciate his time for sharing the knowledge with non-tech people. They can either learn communication or empathy skills.
I recommend this book for employees who have already been working in a cybersecurity company to gain more connectedness to their managers and colleagues. They can recognise their weaknesses and build their strengths stronger.
I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars because this book is worth reading. I have explained the reason I removed the star above. I hope everyone will enjoy the book and appreciate Christian Espinosa's time.
******
The Smartest Person in the Room
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon