Brown Edwards: The Future-Ready CPA Firm
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The document discusses how CPA firms can transition from a focus on compliance to providing strategic value and insights for clients. It identifies several trends impacting CPAs, such as increasing complexity, information overload, and the need to be proactive. The document outlines five steps CPA firms can take to become "future-ready": understanding the context of technological changes and trends, having certainty around hard trends, creating capacity, developing key competencies, and strengthening core values and beliefs. It emphasizes the importance of anticipation, strategic thinking, and continuous learning to adapt to disruptions and changing client needs.
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Brown Edwards: The Future-Ready CPA Firm
- 1. The Future-Ready CPA Firm Moving from Compliance to Reliance Bill Sheridan, CAE Business Learning Institute
- 2. Got questions? Bill Sheridan, CAE The Business Learning Institute Post them at bli.cnf.io
- 4. “When the job is in the way of the work, consider changing your job enough that you can go back to creating value. Anything less is hiding.” Seth Godin
- 5. Top five issues impacting CPAs 1. Keeping up 2. Information overload 3. Doing more with less 4. Being proactive vs. reactive 5. Complexity Bill Sheridan, CAE The Business Learning Institute
- 6. 0 2 4 6 8 Poor reputation No personal relationship Inadequate staff to meet… Out-of-date technology Fees were too high CPA lacked expertise Referral to a new firm Poor responsiveness CPA advice not proactive Why SMBs leave their CPA / accountant Bill Sheridan, CAE The Business Learning Institute
- 7. Source: CPA.COM Insight into the CPA of the Future Study 2014 Only 8% of CPAs are future-ready Future-ready is the capacity to be aware, predictive, and adaptive of emerging challenges, tech innovations, and trends and changes in business, population, and social environment. Bill Sheridan, CAE The Business Learning Institute
- 8. “You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn how to surf.” – Jon Kabat-Zinn Oceans of opportunity
- 9. The faster you go, the farther ahead you have to look.
- 10. 5 steps to becoming future-ready 1. Context 2. Certainty 3. Capacity 4. Competence 5. Core beliefs Bill Sheridan, CAE The Business Learning Institute
- 11. Context
- 12. “We stand on the brink of a technological revolution that will fundamentally alter the way we live, work, and relate to one another. In its scale, scope, and complexity, the transformation will be unlike anything humankind has experienced before.” -- Klaus Schwab, World Economic Forum Bill Sheridan, CAE The Business Learning Institute
- 13. “In the next five years, game-changing technologies will transform every business process, including how we sell, market, communicate, collaborate, educate, train, and innovate.” -- Daniel Burrus
- 16. Source: Frey & Osborne, “The Future of Employment,” Oxford University Race against the machines? Bill Sheridan, CAE The Business Learning Institute
- 18. Bill Sheridan, CAE The Business Learning Institute
- 19. What does the future hold? Bill Sheridan, CAE The Business Learning Institute Technology is changing and disintermediating many trades and professions (medical, legal, accounting) Patterns and trends Automation replacing routine tasks – higher order (soft skills and analytics) are necessary to survive Alternative options to services and knowledge – automated or otherwise. Tax and audit implications Globalization, specialization and consolidation changing the landscape. Domain expertise matters
- 20. Bill Sheridan, CAE The Business Learning Institute Are your offices, workspaces, and technology future-focused? Do you know what your clients are facing now and in the future? Are you using the language of the future or the past? Will students and potential employees feel like they are traveling back in time when they walk through your door?
- 21. Certainty
- 22. Can you predict the future?
- 23. Hard trends = future facts Four hard trends: 1. Government regulation 2. Technology 3. Demographics 4. Globalization
- 24. Examples of trends: Hard or soft?
- 25. The new ‘Big Six’ Source: Gallup
- 26. Disruption and RONI The gap is widening, faster! Source: Clayton Christensen, “Innovation Killers” We think this is the trade-off Bill Sheridan, CAE The Business Learning Institute
- 28. Capacity
- 29. 6 ways to create capacity • Maximize the software and tools you have • Use the latest, most efficient technologies • Workflow and process efficiency • Focus on your best ‘A’ clients • Communicate your services (cross-sell) • Engage your people
- 30. 6 ways to create capacity • Maximize the software and tools you have • Use the latest, most efficient technologies • Workflow and process efficiency • Focus on your best ‘A’ clients • Communicate your services (cross-sell) • Engage your people
- 31. Competency Disruptions before they disrupt Problems before you have them Customer needs before they have them New opportunities before the competition Anticipate Source: Daniel Burrus
- 32. #FutureReady Is the capacity to be anticipatory (aware, predictive and adaptive) of emerging technology and trends in business, demographics, and the social environment impacting your organization and industry. Bill Sheridan, CAE The Business Learning Institute
- 33. The research The latest research inside and outside the CPA profession re- affirms the top competencies and skills needed by accounting and finance professionals. Bill Sheridan, CAE The Business Learning Institute
- 34. Top skills that accounting and finance professionals need today BLI Research in 2015 with over 1,000 responses from all segments of the CPA profession identified these top skill needed to be successful in these rapidly changing times. This confirms and reinforces the research from the Conference Board, AICPA’s CPA Horizons 2025 report, Bersin, and Burrus Research. 75% covered by these top 5 skills
- 35. V A L U E Adding Insight for Action Information Wisdom Knowledge Data Compliance Reliance Source: CGMA and DIKW Pyramid V A L U E
- 36. Trust Integrity Objectivity Excellence Lifelong learning Core beliefs and values Protect the core and stimulate progress
- 37. 5 steps to becoming future-ready 1. Context 2. Certainty 3. Capacity 4. Competence 5. Core beliefs Bill Sheridan, CAE The Business Learning Institute
- 40. The challenge and opportunity is to make the shift from the first curve to the second curve at the right time and with the right strategy.
- 41. “How would you think differently about your strategy if you knew your advantage might not last?”
- 43. Calendar: The No. 1 app Spend just one hour per week in the future …
- 44. “We are called to be architects of the future, not its victims.” R. Buckminster Fuller
- 45. “The best way to predict your future is to create it.” Abraham Lincoln
- 46. Download these slides: Slideshare.net/BillSheridan Follow me: MACPA’s blog: CPASuccess.com Facebook.com/BillSheridan LinkedIn.com/in/BillDSheridan Twitter.com/BillSheridan YouTube.com/BillSheridan SlideShare.net/BillSheridan Flickr.com/photos/Sheridan The Future- Ready CPA Firm Bill Sheridan, CAE The Business Learning Institute
- 47. More about The Anticipatory OrganizationTM
- 48. The Anticipatory Organization™ teaches accounting and finance professionals to actively anticipate disruptions, problems and customer needs, along with their related opportunities, and take action to shape the future by becoming an “Anticipatory CPA.” This “accelerated learning system” includes a series of short, single-concept videos that present 28 core lessons across four modules. Each video is followed by a job aid and rapid-application activities that teach the learner to apply the concept to everyday activities.
- 54. • Anticipation • Strategic thinking • External awareness • Vision • Continuous learning • Innovation • Creativity • Problem solving • Prioritization • Business acumen • Decisiveness • Influencing /persuading • Emotional intelligence • Consensus building • Collaboration • Inspiration • Risk management • Communication www.BLIonline.org/AO
- 55. More about BLI strategic planning The BLI strategic planning methodology helps your people achieve greater results for your organization. To get there, we use a proprietary strategic thinking system called i2a: Insights to Action. i2a fosters collaboration, interaction, and commitment as we clarify the strategic plan for your organization. We use graphical tools and diagrams to connect ideas, articulate strategy, and develop a practical plan for turning this insight into action. Most of BLI’s strategic planning sessions are two- day events. Day one is a “design phase” to identify key outcomes and deliverables with senior staff. Day two brings the i2a process to your team. www.BLIonline.org/strategic-planning
- 56. The Business Learning Institute is the leading talent-development organization for CPAs, finance, and accounting professionals in the United States. It provides customized, competency-based curriculums and a portfolio of “success skills” and technical programs designed for the finance and accounting profession. Founded in 1999 by the Maryland Association of CPAs, the BLI is an innovation and learning center that facilitates the development and sharing of competencies and strategic knowledge required for leadership in today's rapidly changing business environment. Visit BLIonline.org.
Notes de l'éditeur
- So we’re going to talk a little bit today about this notion of future-readiness – what it means to be future ready.
- A quick look at our agenda:
- So how many of you are busy? How many are really, really busy? How many are so busy you’re too tire to raise your hands? That’s really what I believe is our biggest challenge – we’re so busy trying to keep up that we’re too busy to be future-ready.
- Consider this from Seth Godin: We’re so busy doing our jobs, we can’t get any work done. And that’s a great place to hide, isn’t it? That’s a great excuse to NOT do the really important work. I just don’t have time. And that’s a crock. It’s just an excuse. The truth is, we make time for the really important stuff. And folks, THIS is really important.
- In our surveys over the past year, we’ve seen a few issues that seem to keep bubbling up to the top when we ask, “What are the top challenges you’re facing?” Interestingly enough, this is across the entire profession – public practice of all sizes, corporate, government, and not-for-profits. The same ones keep coming up. And they all have to do with this notion of disruption – new stuff, new technologies, regulations, demographic shifts, global and economic issues. They’re all ganging up on us, aren’t they? And making our lives really, really complex at the same time.
- Now, combine those with recent research from The Sleeter Group – this is a report called “What Small and Mid-Size Business Want From Their CPAs.” These are the biggest reasons why clients say they leave their CPAs. Look at number 1. In essence, clients say they leave because their CPAs aren’t future-ready enough. By the way, look at how low fees are on that list. Often when we talk to CPAs, they complain that clients leave because they complain the fees are too high. What the research tells us is that they won’t pay your fees … if you aren’t giving them proactive advice. I think the flip side of that is that if you DO give them proactive advice, how might that change? That’s a critical issue, right? That difference between reactive service vs. proactive advice. And a lot of times, it starts with a simple question: What’s keeping you up at night? If you ask that question and pay attention to the answer, a world of opportunity suddenly becomes clear.
- And this idea that we’re not future-ready? Research within the profession bears that out. This is a report from CPA.com, which is the technology arm of the AICPA. The report is called “Welcome to the Fast Future.” It found that only 8 percent of CPAs believe the profession is future-ready. And how do they define “future-ready?” I think the key here is that we have to move beyond accounting. We have to start moving beyond the historical data that has traditionally driven this profession and start looking at those weak signals of disruptive change that are coming at us from the horizon. And there’s our predicament, right? We don’t have enough time to become future-ready. And our clients are leaving because we’re NOT future-ready. If all of this is true, an important question arises: How will we EVER make time to think about the future if we’re constantly stuck in the day-to-day minutia of trying to get our work done?
- The answer, I think, is in learning how to surf. Jon Kabat Zinn, he’s a professor at the University of Massachusetts. He had this to say. And that’s true. Disruption is going to happen whether we like it or not. Our lives will continue to become more complex whether we like it or not. We can’t do anything about that. What we CAN do is learn how to spot those disruptions before they disrupt us and take advantage of the opportunities they provide. Those who do that will be the winners going forward.
- Another way of looking at it is by asking: “Why is the windshield so much bigger than the rear-view mirror?” And remember: Your clients see you as their most trusted business advisors. They want you to help them see a little further ahead. The paradox of this era of great change and complexity is that the fast change happens, the farther ahead we need to be looking. Think about when you first learned to drive.
- So let’s talk about those surfing lessons – some ideas that might help us be more future-ready. Five steps. We like to call them the 5 Cs. If you pay attention to these five things, you’ll position yourself as a much more future-ready CPA or accountant – and you’ll bring your whole firm along with you. So let’s talk about each of these.
- Context is simply being aware of what’s going on around you. So let me ask you a question: Is disruption most like to come from inside our profession or outside of it? Outside, right? It’s not going to come from inside. So being able to look outside the profession and identify some of these trends and issues will be critically important going forward.
- Consider this: It’s a quote from Klaus Schwab of the World Economic Forum. He’s the author of a mind-blowing book called “The Fourth Industrial Revolution.” Pick up a copy today. It’s an important book. But here’s what he had to say:
- Now think about that word that both of them used. That’s transformation. They didn’t say “slightly change” or “tweak.” They said “transformation.” That means EVERYTHING is different. Now, what does that mean?
- That means things like this: Did the taxi cab industry see Uber coming? According to the New York Post, there are now more Uber black cars in New York City than yellow cabs. (Story about Valentine’s Day 2015 in NYC, trying to get a cab to dinner.)
- Then there’s AirBNB. It took Marriott and Hilton 100 years to get a million rooms under their management. It took AirBNB six … six years to hit a millions rooms. Did Hilton or Marriott see that coming? And it came from outside the hotel industry, didn’t it? It didn’t come from inside. That’s the kind of thing that worries me about the CPA profession. Are we paying attention? Are we taking that longer view – and through the windshield, not through the rear-view mirror?
- We’d better be. These are estimates from Oxford University. The odds of certain professions being completely automated within the next 20 years. The only profession worse than us? Telemarketers. The safest profession? Massage therapists. The point is, it’s coming. What will we do when it gets here? Will we be scrambling to keep up, as usual? Or will we have already positioned ourselves to move beyond that disruption and create future-focused value?
- So Forbes wrote an article titled “The Coming Demise and Rebirth of the Accounting Profession.” We’re here. It has arrived.
- And if you don’t believe me, let’s talk about IBM Watson. Many of us will remember when IBM’s Deep Blue computer beat Gary Kasparaov in chess in 1997. Then, IBM’s Watson technology beat Jeopardy’s reigning human champion, Ken Jennings. Now, fast-forward to last year. A futurist we work with, Dan Burrus, traveled to Toronto to watch Watson prepare a meal. So here’s what they did. They told Watson to read a million cookbooks from all over the world and come up with an innovative recipe. Now, Watson couldn’t cook the meal, but Watson read a million cookbooks and produced a completely unique recipe for the chefs to cook. How long do you think it took Watson to do that? One second. Now, given the exponential nature of change, how long will it take next year? Here’s the really interesting thing: In March, KPMG announced plans to apply the Watson technology to the KPMG professional services offerings – including audit, tax, and advisory services. This comes a little close to home, doesn’t it. It makes you wonder: How long would it take Watson to analyze the tax code? And recommend tax reform? Now, rest easy: I think our tax code is so screwed up that Watson wouldn’t stand a chance. So I think we’re safe … for a little while. But this stuff is coming … and it’s coming fast.
- So here’s the question: Are we going to be able to beat the machines? No. Our only hope to be friends with the machines. So that’s context – are you aware of these trends? Is your office technology up to date? Are you using the language of the future or the past with your clients? What will your new hires think of your workplace? Do you know what your clients are facing now and in the future? Those are some things about context that you need to be thinking about.
- So context. I want you to be thinking about these questions and ask yourself, am I aware of these trends? And how will I KEEP being aware of them. That’s what context means. Are your offices, workspaces and technology future-focused? And if not, what does that say about you? Do you know what your clients are facing? Are you just reading the footnotes to them, or are you asking them questions that will reveal how their business is doing and what’s keeping them up at night? As you have those conversations, are you using the language of the future or the past? And what image are your offices and technology projecting to students and potential employees? These are questions I want you to keep in mind as you think about context.
- Now let’s talk about the next C – certainty.
- Can you predict the future? So let’s see. Right now it’s summer. What comes after summer? Fall? And after that? Spring? You just predicted the future. How many of you have a smartphone? Will the next one be … So there are things about the future we can predict. If you can start basing your strategies and opportunities on things that are certain, you’ll have a much higher success rate and much lower risk. That’s what we mean by this idea of certainty.
- Our friend, Dan Burrus, a world-renowned futurist. He likes to say there are 4 hard trends – things that are definitely going to happen – four hard trends that are impacting our profession: -- government regulation -- technology -- demographics. So let’s predict the future: Next year, will you be a year older? So will every other person on earth. What will that mean? We all need more managers, right? Well, how long does it take to create, say, a 35-year-old manager? 35 years, right? They’re not going to magically appear. We need to figure out a way to ramp up the leadership skills of some of our high-potential millennials. So again, there are some things you can predict about the future. If you narrow those down and base your firm’s strategy around those certainties, risk goes down, higher rate of success.
- When we did the research for the CPA Horizons Project in 2011, this was the set of trends that was researched by futurists and validated by grassroots CPAs. So let’s see how good you guys are: Hard trend Hard trend Hard trend Hard trend Soft trend – it can be different or you can influence it. Hard trend Soft trend – because you can do something about this Soft trend – again, because you can do something about it Hard trend Soft trend – could change, in fact, it seems to change daily.
- But here’s the deal: All of these hard trends are transforming what work means today. It speaks to the shift in leadership and culture that have been driven by technology, globalization and demograhics. This is what the new workplace is demanding, and millennials are the dominant generation in the workplace.
- One more thing about certainty: Our inability to decide or move on some of these certainties is starting to cost you money. This is research from Clayton Christianson on disruption. And what he found was, the cost of saying no is zero. If I don’t spend money, I’ll be OK. I might not MAKE money, but in a stable environment, I’ll be OK. But in a fast-changing, disruptive environment like the one we’re in, saying no can actually cost you money. It can actually be fatal. And that’s worth thinking about. THE CURVE: For years, the issue was ROI – what’s the return over time.
- One other thing that we’re fairly certain about: Relationships and collaboration will take on added importance as time goes on. In fact, we have a theory: That the collaboration curve is now more important than the experience curve. Think about it: As we were learning the ropes in accounting, it was all about experience. Think about how long an accounting degree lasted you in terms of being able to sell it – 15 or 20 years. At least. Right? How long does an accounting degree last today in terms of when it will become obsolete. Guesses? About three years at best. We’ll eventually reach a point where the degree is obsolete before we graduate. And these young people know that. That’s why they want career development and state-of-the-art technology: They don’t want to become obsolete in this kind of economy. Also, in the midst of all this noise and chaos, you as a trusted business advisor have a special place in the future … if you can maintain relevance. And I believe that firmly.
- Now let’s talk about capacity. How do we make time to deal with these things from a future perspective. One of the secrets is technology. Are you using the technology you have to its fullest.
- So here’s a simple example: How many of use use Microsoft Word? How many functions and features are there in Word? I’ve heard as high as 4,000. How many have you paid for? 4,000. How many do you use? That’s what we’ve got to stop doing. We have a huge opportunity to say, what are the time-saving features of the things we already have that we can use to start creating time for us? Right? We have to start making time and learn to work smarter, not harder. Use the latest, most efficient technologies – are there apps that will do things for us that we’re now doing by hand? Ask your young people. Bring a few of them in and just ask them: How could we do this pivot table better. Workflow and process efficiency – I’ve heard of firms that have made major strides in tax, for example, by deploying workflow technology. Are you saving time so that you can be more proactive? Because that’s what your clients want.
- Focus on your A clients – every firm out there is trying to figure out how to rank their clients. And make sure you’re putting your effort where it’s most rewarded. Those D clients suck a lot of time and energy out of the firm, don’t they? Think about the 80-20 rule, right? 20 percent of your clients account for 80 percent of your revenue. Can you free up capacity to better serve your A clients with more proactive services? That’s what we’re talking about. We’ve got to figure out a way to create this capacity – to free up some time to do the really important work. That last one is a big one – engage your people. According to Gallup, almost 70 percent of your workforce is disengaged. 30 percent of those are ACTIVELY disengaged. That means they hate you and they’re plotting a coup from within. We keep wondering why they don’t leave? And they don’t – they just keep recruiting more people. “I hate this place. Come join me.” I call it the zombie apocalypse – 70 percent of your people are coming to work with just their heads. They’re not giving you their heart. There’s a huge opportunity here to engage your people. It’s about co-creation and collaboration. Get them involved in the future of your firm. Get them involved in fixing the workflow. Get them involved in figuring out how you can save time. Get them involved in how you can create a flexible workplace – god forbid. And then try things. And adjust. And try some more things. And adjust again. That will engage them and you will get their heads AND their hearts, and suddenly, they will work a lot harder for you. Everyone keeps saying, the millennials don’t want to work hard. That’s not true. They just don’t want to work hard for YOU – that’s the problem. If you create the right environment for them, they’ll work their tales off. By the way, there’s a myth about millennials and job-hopping. All the research we’ve seen and done shows that their top priority is job security. No. 2 is flexibility, No. 3 is career development. If you do those things, they’ll stick with you.
- Another reason to create capacity is so you can build new competencies – knowledge, skills and abilities. And the one key competency that we believe is critical today – and we’ve researched this through the CPA Horizons Project, with firms and in the corporate community, and with Dan Burrus – is anticipation. That is the key missing competency. How can we anticipate disruptions before they disrupt, problems before we have them, customer needs before THEY have them, and new opportunities before the competition.
- Right? And this goes right back to that definition of future-ready we talked about earlier.
- And all of the major research that we’ve seen out there tells us the same thing. Studies conducted by the Conference Board, CPA.com, the new CGMA Competency Framework, right on up to the CPA Horizons Project. https://www.cgma.org/Resources/Tools/DownloadableDocuments/competency-framework-overview.pdf http://www.aicpa.org/Research/CPAHorizons2025/DownloadableDocuments/cpa-horizons-report-web.pdf http://www.cpa.com/whitepapers/welcome-fast-future-cpa-future-2015-study http://www.ddiworld.com/ddi/media/trend-research/global-leadership-forecast-2014-2015_tr_ddi.pdf?ext=.pdf
- And what is that research telling us? Well, the top skills that accounting and finance pros need today – from study to study to study. But you see, we’re all facing the same thing. These are things we need to learn how to do in this increasingly complex world. The funny thing is, when you ask CPAs how much they are investing in teaching these competencies to their teams? Very little. They say they need them, but they’re not spending the money to acquire them. That has to change.
- Here is a great article from Geoffrey Moore (author of Crossing the Chasm) about the power of understanding the trends and issues facing customers and prospects. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/so-you-want-trusted-advisor-geoffrey-moore "Specifically, what you want to bring to the conversation is a point of view about the challenges you are seeing in companies like theirs and a diagnostic of some sort to talk through to determine what their particular issues are. You tee this up by making clear your company is investing to address problems of this sort, but before you talk about that, you want to better understand their situation. Then you start to probe. The diagnostic itself is transparent. By contextualizing the conversation in terms of trends you are seeing at other companies, you give the prospective customer permission to talk through problems they are facing in an open, non-defensive way. The longer this unfolds, the more they confess. The more they confess, they more they trust you. (The Catholic Church got this just right.) In this process, it is important that you engage with the customer around the particulars of their situation, that you ask pertinent questions and offer relevant examples from other companies you are familiar with. What you do not do is interrupt the flow to explain your solution to the problem."
- And the fifth C, the fifth step to being future-ready: Our core values. Jim Collins famously said, “We have to protect the core and stimulate progress.” And that came straight from the CPA Horizons Project as well. In 2011, the AICPA hired a futurist, we facilitated discussions with CPA groups from coast to coast to figure out how the profession needed to change going forward. About 1,000 CPAs in 16 cities took part, and they identified the competencies we talked about as well as a core purpose for the entire profession: Making sense of a changing and complex world. Pretty cool – in 2011 they were already thinking about how the profession needs to be more proactive. And these were the core values they identified. And as a profession, we’ve always been good at continuous learning. Now the challenge is redirecting it and applying it to these new skill sets that everyone is saying they need. And this ties directly to engaging young professionals, by the way. The one thing the millennial generation will consistently say is that they want to work for a purpose-driven organization. And that purpose has to be about more than just making money. (NASA STORY – That;s purpose. What’s yours?) This isn’t touchy-feely stuff. Jim Collins found that when you tie purpose to your strategy, you outperform the industry average by 1,500 percent. So I would argue there’s gold in here. It increases engagement dramatically. It increases trust dramatically. And it increases performance dramatically. So we’re all struggling to keep up with change, but sometimes ometimes this stuff is as much about understanding what MUST NOT change as it is figuring out the things that NEED to change. And the stuff that must not change are our core values. And knowing that can give your team a sense of security. In the midst of all this change and complexity, here are some foundational beliefs that should NEVER change. And again from Jim Collins: Sometimes you have to change what you do to remain who you are. That’s the notion of protecting the core.
- Let’s recap: Context: How are you learning to look further and wider at the trends and issues in our industry AND in the industries you serve? You’ll never be proactive if you don’t understand your clients’ context as well. Certainty: What can you be doing to make good bets on the future, on things you actually CAN predict with a great deal of certainty. Capacity: How will you create capacity to become future-ready? Competence: How will I provide our teams with the key skills they need to succeed going forward? Core beliefs: Have you even thought about it?
- So the bottom line is that you actually CAN make time for the future, but you have to do it strategically, and not let the tyranny of the urgent kill you when you get back to work. You’re all going to leave here and go back to work and have all of these voicemails and emails and day-to-day stuff to do, and you’ll lose everything we talked about here today in about a week. And I don’t want that to happen. I don’t want you to look like this.
- So here’s what I want you to do – and this, again, comes from our buddy, Dan Burrus. He says the most important app on his smartphone is his calendar. So right now, block off just one hour of time within the next week to think about the future. -- one hour to look at a new app or to better understand a technology that you already have -- one hour to read a book about the future -- one hour to scan the internet for clues about hard trends that are impacting you and your clients. -- one hour to think about how this profession is changing and what you can do about it. Then make it a recurring appointment. One hour a week. And you can’t say you’re going to do it. It won’t get done. Schedule it. Make an appointment on your calendar with yourself. Just one hour a week to think about the future.
- In November 2015, we developed a strategic partnership with Daniel Burrus, a world-renowned global futurist and business consultant who had researched the top competencies requested in his work with many Fortune 500 companies. These aligned with our own research at BLI. Four modules, 28 lessons. A series of short, single-concept videos that present each lesson’s core principles. Each video is followed by a job aid and rapid-application activities that teach you how to apply the concepts directly to your job and everyday activities.