Rilegato

ISBN 10: 0465048943 ISBN 13: 9780465048946

Casa editrice: Basic Books, 2015

Red teaming. It is a practice as old as the Devil's Advocate, the eleventh-century Vatican official charged with discrediting candidates for sainthood. Today, red teams-comprised primarily of fearless skeptics and those assuming the role of saboteurs who seek to better understand the interests, intentions, and capabilities of institutions or potential competitors-are used widely in both the public and private sector. Red teaming, including simulations, vulnerability probes, and alternative analyses, helps institutions in competitive environments to identify vulnerabilities and weaknesses, challenge assumptions, and anticipate potential threats ahead of the next special operations raid, malicious cyberattack, or corporate merger. But not all red teams are created equal; indeed, some cause more damage than they prevent.

In Red Team, national security expert Micah Zenko provides an in-depth investigation into the work of red teams, revealing the best practices, most common pitfalls, and most effective applications of these modern-day Devil's Advocates. The best practices of red teaming can be applied to the CIA, NYPD, or a pharmaceutical company, and executed correctly they can yield impressive results: red teams give businesses an edge over their competition, poke holes in vital intelligence estimates, and troubleshoot dangerous military missions long before boots are on the ground. But red teams are only as good as leaders allow them to be, and Zenko shows not only how to create and empower red teams, but also what to do with the information they produce.

Essential reading for business leaders and policymakers alike, Red Team will revolutionize the way organizations think about, exploit, compensate for, and correct their institutional strengths and weaknesses. Drawing on little-known case studies and unprecedented access to elite red teamers in the United States and abroad, Zenko shows how any group-from military units to friendly hackers-can win by thinking like the enemy.

About the Author:

Micah Zenko is a Senior Fellow in the Center for Preventive Action at the Council on Foreign Relations. He lives in New York.

Review:

"An important book."―Red Team Journal

"[Zenko's] valuable analysis and advice will be of particular interest to executives, and anyone charged with strategic planning."―Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, director of the Army Capabilities Integration Center and deputy commanding general for future at the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command

"The most depressingly timely book on terrorism I read this year."―Carlos Lozada, editor of the Washington Post Book Party blog

"An excellent book.... There are few business or government officials who could not derive some insights from the wide breadth of examples Zenko exploits so effectively."―War on the Rocks

A gripping, deeply informed overview of red teaming.... Red Team is filled with harrowing stories of red-team failures but also successes in the domains of both national security and the private sector, where companies, for example, red team against hackers."―Soundview Executive Book Summaries

"An excellent book."―Booklist

"Zenko explains, in absorbing detail, the value of red teams, groups formed to act as devil's advocates.... Zenko offers readers much to consider and an effective way to take action."―Kirkus

"In today's complex world, decision makers need smart, sophisticated, and insightful options. Red Team shows policymakers and CEOs alike that the way to make the best use of your organizational talent is to break down your organization."―Jami Miscik, former Deputy Director for Intelligence, CIA

"Complacency, groupthink, inertia, tunnel vision. These are the most common after-the-fact explanations of big failures in politics, government, war, and business. In these pages Micah Zenko offers a lucid analysis backed by many fun-to-read examples of common mistakes as well as a useful compendium of best practices. Red Team is must-read for decision makers everywhere."―Moises Naim, Distinguished Fellow, Carnegie Endowment, author of The End of Power