The Hidden Reason Cyber Budgets Bleed ROI.
Why “Safe” hiring choices are creating a cascading financial failure in your program.
Dean Kastelic
Principal Consultant
Steve Jobs famously said: “A players hire A players. B players hire C players. And C players hire D players. It doesn’t take long to get to Z players.”
He called this the “Bozo Explosion.” Last week, my post on “Integrity Gaps” struck a nerve with 20,000+ of you. The #1 red flag we discussed was the “Echo Chamber Hire” where leaders hire for comfort, not competence.
“I see the financial aftermath of this dynamic every day.”
The “Bozo Explosion” Cascade
The Financial Aftermath
In the cyber industry, this is particularly dangerous. We often see insecure leaders hiring less capable senior staff to avoid being challenged. The result isn’t just a “weak team.” It is a cascading financial failure:
-
1. Poor Advice
The “B Players” recommend strategies and tools they know, not those that work or are cost-effective. They buy familiarity, not efficacy.
-
2. Tool Sprawl
To compensate for a lack of skill and understanding of controls, the team buys more software—pursuing that elusive silver bullet instead of engineering the tools you own.
-
3. Vendor Dependency
You end up paying vendors “A Player rates” to fix the mess your “B Players” created with the vendor’s “C Players”. It’s a tax on incompetence.
The Solution Starts at the Top
Look at your most recent senior hires. Were they the strongest in the market? Or were they the “safe” choice from a previous network?
If you suspect a poor hiring decision is eroding your ROI, you need to audit the team’s composition, not just the budget.
The Challenge
“Strong candidates are often rejected not because they lack skills, but because they are highly capable—a ‘B Player’ manager sees them as a threat.”
Check Flag #1
Download the 1-page “Cyber Integrity Audit” checklist to spot this dynamic.