Why is history important to a Security Manager?

History is an important factor to consider because it gives us a glimpse of how certain ideas, concepts and entities reacted to changes in their environment.  I am of the opinion that history is important for security because it is a field of customs as well as dramatic change and history provides us with a mean to study both. Security as a complex system also needs to be mentioned as it provides clear and concise support for the importance of history.

The tools used to enforce and implement security have transformed radically over the course of history. However, the basic theory of security has not changed significantly and although it’s very difficult to give an exact definition of security one might argue that all the various definitions would include references to stability, relative predictability and the prevention disorder or damages. It is for this reason that the history might contain some basic theories which one could use as the building blocks for more modern advancements.

Security also provides us with a representation of a society and it’s institutions at a given point in history. Security measures throughout history such as night-watchmen, clearing trees along the roads and the establishment of the “bobbies” were all security reactions to the environment that existed at that time. It is thus exceptionally clear that security also changes in response to impulses it receives from the environment.

This knowledge leaves security managers in a position to contemplate changes in their environment like government policies and major events and utilise this to make the necessary precautions in order to limit damages and increase predictability of the global security system.

In a more academic sense the systems approach to security provides similar justification for the importance of history in the field of security because it focuses on central goals rather than solving individual problem that may exist within the organization. Thus, the whole is more than just a sum of its parts. This notion adds further force to the idea that history is an important factor to consider when dealing with security. According to the definition of complex system, history or the memory of the system plays an extremely important role in the system because previous states can have an influence on present states of the system.

Security management are still being established as field of study as well as a major business function. In closing I would like to mention that history forms a vital part of other important business functions and fields of study such as Science, Economics and conventional management. If security management were to establish itself as a leader in education as well as business, history surely has to form part of the sphere in which it exists.

The aforementioned mention reasons provide evidence of the importance of history to the field of security. The ability to comprehend ones environment and to utilise these observations for security purposes are constant throughout history and provides evidence for the importance of history. It is thus clear that history does have a necessary role to play in the lives of modern security professionals. 

JJ Gericke