Boomer's Blueprint: Checklists or questions — a key to increasing value

Breakthroughs occur when you focus on simplification, rather than complexity. In many cases, complexity and the sheer volume of knowledge (rules and regulations) have exceeded an individual’s ability to deliver the benefits of that knowledge in an understandable, reliable and profitable manner. This is the primary reason professionals and their clients are looking for tools and shortcuts to sustain success and remain relevant. Artificial intelligence and machine learning are starting to impact many processes in firms and their clients.

Over 10 years ago, I read Atul Gawande’s “The Checklist Manifesto,” and it had both a personal and professional impact. Gawande is a surgeon, writer and public health leader who practices general and endocrine surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. The book included several lessons from both the airline industry and the medical profession that apply to the accounting profession and the need to transform.

Checklists seem to help provide protection against failures and instill a discipline that leads to higher performance. The problem comes when checklists attempt to become all-encompassing, long and often resisted. The checklist can be a valuable tool if simplified and applied to the basic principles of value and best business practices.

For me, this was the “Aha!” moment. This provided confirmation of my career-long belief that the accounting profession was missing the opportunity to increase their value by also focusing on advisory and consulting services. But to seize this opportunity there must be a significant change in mindset. Now, over 10 years later … a talent shortage, a pandemic and enabling technology have provided a sense of urgency to exponentially transform.

First, let’s ensure readers understand the definition of business transformation. ProductPlan defines business transformation as “an umbrella term for making fundamental changes in how a business or organization operates. This includes personnel, processes and technology. These transformations help organizations compete more effectively, become more efficient, or make a wholesale strategic pivot.” Today we are seeing this as firms focus on the right clients, right services and the right business model.

The good news: Value increases when you utilize checklists and questions. Questions make people think, while checklists are primarily designed for transactional and compliance services in order to manage risk. The accounting profession loves checklists, but checklists have limitations.

Take a moment and think: Has your vision changed in the past two years? Your firm’s vision? Your best clients’ visions? Business transformation is impacting all professions and their clients, patients and members. This should not have surprised anyone who read “The Future of the Professions: How Technology Will Transform the Work of Human Experts” by Richard and Daniel Susskind. It just happened more suddenly and differently.

There is more good news than bad for the accounting profession. Not only do members of the profession have the technical skills, but more important, they have a trusted marketing channel in their existing client base. Most of their clients are looking to solve the same challenges firms are facing. This is a once-in-a-career opportunity that members of the profession should seize, but many are too busy, or don’t feel comfortable in an advisory or consulting role. Even more concerning is their lack of motivation to transform.

The traditional answer is more education, but in reality the answer is more complex and requires a team approach with diversified skills. Many of these skills are either missing or undervalued by members of the accounting profession. Here are a few examples:

• Project management;
• Marketing;
• Sales;
• Data analytics;
• A focus on managerial accounting;
• Sustainability;
• Diversity and inclusion; and,
• Continuous process improvement.

Now for the importance of questions. As you increase value (value is determined by the client) you move from compliance to advisory to consulting services. Checklists become less relevant and questions become more important. Questions inspire thinking, which results in strategy, planning and exponential growth in value.
Dan Sullivan, founder of The Strategic Coach says, “All progress starts with the truth.” The questions in the Perception Survey below are important in order to sustain success and remain future-ready. A version of the following questions apply to you, your firm and your strategic clients. Leadership (vision) is the one common characteristic of organizations that successfully transform. Perception is reality in the market. Therefore, I suggest using a Likert scale of 1-10 to see where perceptions differ. Use the scoring: 1 (strongly disagree) to 10 (strongly agree). Where are you today? Where do you want to be in six months? In one year?

The Perception Survey
Scoring: 1 = strongly disagree; 10 = strongly agree

The results of the survey will lead to productive conversations as well as higher value opportunities. Typically, firms and their clients start by updating their vision, developing a game plan, and increasing accountability in order to experience business transformation and exponential growth. Exponential growth is focused on culture and adding value to team members and clients. Increased revenue is a result of exponential growth in leadership, talent, technology and processes.