The context of this thread is that we're talking about technical positions. If you see my other comment, I already mentioned that it's a management cert. Also, if a person with a CISSP is capable of picking up technical skills, that's simply coincidental. The CISSP didn't teach them to learn technical skills, it's completely unrelated. In my experience, motivation is the largest factor in learning anything, so of course a person motivated to spend time learning a specific subject is capable of picking it up.