I used to have a poster on my office wall of a Chinese proverb; if you chase two rabbits, both will escape.  That poster was important to me because it conveyed the importance of focus.  What I have found to be true in my life is that if I try to accomplish two different goals at the same time, I will not accomplish them both.  Most often, I accomplish neither and I wasted my time.  (As an aside, I also like the proverb because it reminds me of the rabbits I used to raise as a kid and I can positively attest to the validity of the original proverb. )

I bring this proverb up because it provides the basis for one the primary reasons I came to McAfee after working for a larger software company.  As the reader may guess, one of the biggest reasons I moved to McAfee is because of their focus on securing customers environments.  My previous employer did not have that same focus.   They used to but somewhere over the last 3-4 years, they lost it.  That’s when they started to lose me. 

There are few areas where the lack of focus can impact a person and/or organization.  First, where do you put your research and additional investment?  Here at McAfee, that research and additional investment is going into security.  At my former company, that answer would be different.  Second, how does your technical account staff become strategic partners with the customer if they have to span multiple domains?  Trust me when I tell you that finding someone that is deep on security but also deep on another domain is difficult.  Finally, which company will do a better job of staying ahead of the bad guys, the company that does security partially? Or full time? Clearly, a 100% focus on the bad guys is the right answer and it allows you to do things like this.

All of this said, there are other reasons I left my former company to join McAfee.  For example, I did not want to be a lifer at my former company (I was already there 21 years, I started right out of high school.)  I had worked longer there than I lived with my parents.  However, at the end of the day, security software is my passion.  It is why I spend 75% of my time on the road speaking with customers and partners.  I cannot think of a better place to do my job than with McAfee and it’s singular focus on security.