Preface:
...Why should anyone read a story about a possessed reading pile and a recovering workaholic?
With liberal dose of fantasy and humor, “The Perils of Mount Must Read™ chronicles a quest to conquer the mountain of reading required to just stay competent in information audit and technology.
Admittedly, the intended audience has some background in compliance and IT. Even if the reader is not an IT auditor, the challenge to stay ahead of new tools and research in an industry with no respect for “too much information” is a familiar predicament. Add to that, an ego driven compulsion to make sense of every digitally available IT resource, and you have the essence of a modern day tragic hero, an information overload villain, and a quest for information peace and enlightenment. Becoming caught up in the race to remain competent in one’s profession is probably not unique to audit or technology.
Blending fiction and truth, the tale aims for insight, suggesting solutions to the problem of what to read and who to regard as “expert” in our field.
Laugh with me or at me, but please relax and consider quality over quantity as an alternative to drinking from the digital fire hose.
Events transpire between October and December, and conclude with the New Year, 2006. Part fantasy and part truth, the characters admit their flaws and evolve a strategy for survival against “The Perils of Mount Must Read™.“
Many thanks to the persons who provided a wealth of great resources. Credits are scattered throughout the story and detailed in the endnotes.
Hope you enjoy the read.
Kind Regards,
Robin Basham, M.IT, M.Ed. CISA, ITsM
Marked by goals involving world value achieved through arts and sciences, Surpasses Wolf in vigilance, to create new standards for both ethics and practice
Faces actual threats, by leveraging Eagle’s data to prioritize faults, and Wolf’s ingenuity for tools, survival instinct and good sense in designing a practical response strategy
Humans can be found in think tanks, governments, clergy, universities, private industry and even the world of entertainment
They commit with or without promise of glory, are more often sentenced to death than awarded a Nobel Prize
Humans admit to having been Fish, Dog, Wolf and Sheep, because they have humility
Regardless of whether we agree with a Human’s goal, chances are we would not last a day in their shoes
Under the right set of circumstance every animal has the potential to be both Eagle and Human[16].
(reference on next page)
Try the evolution challenge. What do you see in the mirror?
