WASHINGTON

--When I finished briefing our terrorist attack plan, the base commander sat and stared at me for a long moment. This was a senior Navy captain, accustomed to always knowing the big picture and being several steps ahead of any problem; in other words, to being in command. He was unused to this feeling of helplessness--especially because I had just laid out how my team would--notionally--murder several dozen military children, including the governor's kid, on his installation that same day.

The staff were as silent as their leader. Furtive glances scanned back and forth, from the captain to me, the briefer with the bad news. Finally, slowly, he lowered his head and cupped his face in his hand. I was pleased. This was our highest honor to date.

Other commanders, on other security assessments, had expressed appropriate concern at vulnerabilities we turned up. They would give assurances to our little team that gaps in their processes or facilities would be mitigated. Some would even keep that promise, after we left. None before now, though, had been impacted so profoundly as to hang his head in his own conference room. We knew this one would be followed through, and that those under his command would be safer for it. Especially the innocent children.

I've served on various Red Teams over the years. The purpose of red-teaming, whether in cyber security, process analysis, or physical penetration, is to emulate threats in order to discover "friendly" weaknesses a hostile actor might exploit. Better to have one's flaws identified by a simulated enemy than the real thing. Military units and corporations alike bring in outside help because, put simply, we often can't see ourselves as accurately as others can.

KNOW THYSELF

This human tendency to gaze into rose-colored mirrors, in lieu of direct self-examination under white light, is a key factor underlying much of the conflict in the world today. It's just not comfortable to accept my own flaws. Yours, on the other hand, can be a source of pleasant distraction for me! Why else, for Heaven's sake, would we continue to raise the ratings on daytime smackdown "talk" shows?