Re: Sample mission statement
Marilyn,
Well, cyber mission statements (or mission statements that weave in cybersecurity objectives) are, as I point out, largely nonexistent for most companies I have encountered. I am beginning to see folks assert their commitment to security and safety in some nascent companies who get it (and for whom security is part of the identity), but for the most part we're still dealing with the much larger cyber-related disease in corporate America we all know as "Ostrich Security."
That said, as we're seeing in retail and banking and even healthcare, daily cyber security concerns are actually becoming intertwined with a company's core offerings and products. These concerns are linked in real ways to the things that make the business fail or succeed. The point to make from this Part 1 (there's more in my second part of this post that expands on what's here around mission statement) is that cyber is become so pervasive a concern to organizations that is deserves to be elevated into the very core mission of the company itself alongside what makes them "them" as far as their products, services, delivery, discriminators and - most importantly - their employees go. There's a bank out there with the mission statement of becoming, and Im paraphrasing to protect the innocent, the most respected provider of financial transaction services. It would seem to me to make sense that "secure" and other words setting serious security objectives be rolled into that too to drive home for their customer and employees that "secure" is who they are.
For example, let's take the mission statement of a very well known national retail chain:
Guided by relentless focus on our five imperatives, we will constantly strive to implement the critical initiatives required to achieve our vision. In doing this, we will deliver operational excellence in every corner of the Company and meet or exceed our commitments to the many constituencies we serve. All of our long-term strategies and short-term actions will be molded by a set of core values that are shared by each and every associate.
I wont say who that is, but let's just say cybercrime is not their friend of late.
For the most part, it's high-level, vague and could apply to almost any organization, selling or offering almost anything. Do the leaders and employees take this kind of mission statement to heart? Does it make them more diligent or more responsible as far as the performance of their daily routines? Does it make them care about product or service delivery by imbuing their daily routine with any extra reflection on what make them better, different or, in the case if cyber security, more safe? Does it even drive to their employees any ideal in particular? Our sense of quality? I say no.
What I'm getting at here is that all companies in this day and age must begin to really appreciate the risks they face each day in this hyper-connoted world of constant cyber attack and cybercrime. By including in a company's mission statement specifies on how, given what they offer, they will put their customers cyber safety in the foremost of their mission right alongside their core product delivery not only reflects the commitment of an organization to protect data, secure web apps, make safe transactions, be good stewards of your PII and more, it also tells the employees just how much it matters (assuming they back it up with real organizational commitment to cyber defense). That it is a part of everything they do and, hopefully, it even seeps, in small ways, into their subconscious routine each and every day when carrying out their work.
One thing is clear today. Business leadership may not get it yet, but customers are starting to.
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7/22/2020 | 3:17:15 AM
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