learning how to learn.
by frank stitely
the relentless cpa
our profession is woefully behind state-of-the-art management.
more: the cure for commoditization | ruthlessly efficient workflow management | what the value-pricers get wrong | four amusing millennial myths | the annual tax meeting is dead. clients killed it. | 3 rules for asking great tax-return questions
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have you read anything about agile project management in cpa firms? no? well then, lean in a little.
the agile concept first surfaced about 10 years ago in the real world. it has yet to break the surface in the cpa world. if you want the best, most up-to-date information on management trends and techniques, you won’t find it in the cpa world.
i’m doing some research on reducing errors on tax returns and other accounting projects. where do you go to find the causes of errors on tax returns? good luck finding anything in the cpa world.
i’m finding the best resources in the medical field. conquering the issue of why tax preparers can’t get tax withholding right is similar to keeping a surgeon from amputating the wrong leg. i’m reading a book on error prevention written by a former submarine captain. when you screw up hundreds of feet deep in the pacific, you die. when a preparer screws up tax withholding, you just kill clients. well, you don’t actually kill them, but they’re dead in terms of coming back next year.
i read or listen to 30 to 40 business books a year. once in a while, i read one about physics or cosmology as a palate cleanser. i love business biographies. if you want to understand business owners, you’ll understand them best after reading about warren buffett, bill gates and steve jobs.
you’ll learn that all successful business owners are narcissists on some level. they focus on their businesses to the exclusion of anything else, including in some cases personal hygiene. work-life balance? you’ll learn that doesn’t happen until you fix your business.
our best business clients are all crazy on some level. they have to be.
you’re crazy too, or you wouldn’t still be in business.
i subscribe to audible.com and listen to dozens of books while suffering through northern virginia traffic. i get through an audible book every few days. most of them are garbage, but about one in five is valuable. i just finished one on negotiation written by a former fbi hostage negotiator. i’m just waiting for the next client to ask me to discount a bill. i’ll make him an offer he can’t refuse.
bombard yourself with ideas. bombard your staff. audible.com is about to become an employee benefit in our firm. if you want new ideas from staff, you must plant the seeds. let your staff do some of the heavy lifting.
it’s time to reset your expectations. to reimagine your firm, you must step outside your normal sources of information. you must learn to evaluate sources of information for credibility.
you must be open to new skills. to attract 21st-century clients, you’ll need new methods to reach them.
millennials hate phone calls.