Show Notes
EPISODE 10 SUMMARY - RACHEL LAWES ———————————————— Joining Bruce Hallas on Episode 10 of the Re-thinking the Human Factor Podcast is Dr. Rachel Lawes, who comes to the show with a background in the field of semiotics. Don't worry, if you're not familiar with the term, you're probably in good company. However, upon learning more about Rachel and the field of semiotics prior to recording the interview, we knew she had something of interest, substance, and worth to bring to the conversation around Cyber Security Awareness, Behaviour, and Culture.
MORE ABOUT RACHEL If you go to market research conferences, you've probably met her already. She's one of the original founders of British commercial semiotics and she never stops being excited about what it can do. She uses semiotics and related methods, backed up by a comprehensive knowledge of social science, to rejuvenate brands, innovate products and services and steer comms. She delivers research, insights and strategic guidance to brand owners. She delivers training in advanced research methods for both client side and agency side users. She also supplies consultancy services to ad agencies, design agencies and large branding agencies. From time to time she works with universities because she loves to teach. [1]
JOIN RACHEL LAWES AND BRUCE HALLAS AS THEY DISCUSS: What semiotics is.
In reference to a challenge often put our way regarding the applicability of insights from without the security industry — whether the insights gained through semiotics be applied to both sides of the fence, so to speak, both externally AND internally, as in the case of within an organization. One fascinating consequence of digital culture — that written language has taken on a life of its own in a way that really haven't seen in our life times. It's no longer really required that you follow the rules you learned in school. What's more important is getting your message across, which might involve substantial use of abbreviations, emoji's, etc. People communicate using language and text now more than they have done for a long long time.
The work of semiotics is partly about observing what's going on in a given audience to try to understand what it is they're giving off, what the signs are you see in the audience which may be a reflection on how they would respond to you presenting something to them. How semiotics can help one engage more effectively and influence changes more effectively.
Studying signs and symbols (semiotics) gives one an understanding of what is driving people's behaviour from a cultural perspective. This is important because, as discussed with Gert Jan Hofstede in Episode 06 of the Re-thinking the Human Factor Podcast, culture forms everybody - there's no escape from it.
FURTHER STUDY AND RESEARCH Semiotics Tone of Voice Episode 06 - A Chat With Gert Jan Hofstede About Culture and Security.
MORE ABOUT RACHEL LAWES: Website [1] Please subscribe to the podcast in iTunes, and if you enjoyed this interview, please share with your friends and colleagues and leave a 5 star rating and review.
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Bruce & The Re-thinking the Human Factor Podcast Team
More from Re-thinking The Human Factor with Bruce Hallas
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If you're a regular listener then you will have already met today's guest Dr. Char Sample. Char is a force at work deep within the information security community. Char is a rarity, combining a deep knowledge of both the technical and human aspects of the challenges security professionals face when managing cyber security risks. Char and I go back a long way, to a horrible conference lunch in London, where her riveting conversation meant I didn't have to eat what was on the plate in front of me. I have been forever grateful. That riveting conversation was all about our shared understanding of how culture influences everyone's day to day behaviours and how everyday behaviours make up culture. That shared interest has led to many conversations and shared ideas about how the information security industry could step up a level by seeing the potential for improving how we assess and manage human factor risks. In this episode we capture one of those conversations. We talk about heuristics and biases, what they are and what role they might have in artificial intelligence. Why what makes us human often makes us behave in seemingly irrational ways even when presented with all the data we need and assumptions we frequently make when developing and designing systems and processes and how this is undermining the management of business risks. Be warned, there's a lot of laughter in this episode.
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