The news that John Kinsel – one of the last Navajo Code Talkers who died in October – gives us a chance to talk about cybersecurity and unbreakable encryptions. From a technical standpoint, code talkers represented an unbreakable code for enemy communications and it required little or no preparation for operational use.
According to AZCentral, ‘Navajo Code Talkers were successful because they provided a fast, secure and error-free line of communication by telephone and radio during World War II in the Pacific. The 29 initial recruits developed an unbreakable code, and they were successfully trained to transmit the code under intense conditions.’ In fact, per Wikipedia: ‘The code remained classified until 1968. The Navajo code is the only spoken military code never to have been deciphered.’
A serial entrepreneur I know summed it up best: sometimes you have to be too dumb to quit. They’re absolutely correct – the genius of bad ideas is that everyone is too smart to think of them. This isn’t just a historical curiosity – the code talkers’ unbreakable encryption made key victories possible in World War Two. Mesh people like us – technical curious, authentically empathetic – can take some key takeaways from the code talkers:
- Being unique, authentic, different – all good things
- Knowing what’s real, knowing what you know – that matters to the right people
- Low tech solutions can beat high-tech problems
- Don’t be afraid to be a weird nerd – the right amount of wrong is best
As a weird nerd – you may be wondering what your talents and abilities are good for. I hope you’ll take the experience of the Code Talkers and their unbreakable encryption as a powerful learning lesson. No one else can be you, go find what you do better than anyone else. I believe in you, and so does everyone on the Inkican Crew!
