Many in the accounting profession are experiencing an occupational identity problem. The accounting profession is much more than auditors and tax preparers (compliance workers). Growth is coming from advisory and consulting services. Understanding what you do, or even how you do it, pales in comparison to knowing why you do what you do. This is not a debate over the value and relevance of traditional services, but rather how you can increase value in the market and sustain success.
Since childhood we have been asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” and “What are you majoring in?” and even today we are asked what we do in most introductions. You, as a members of the accounting profession, have an adaptation advantage; but must let go of your identity as an accountant, tax preparer or auditor by defining yourself, your skills and your knowledge beyond the scope of your job in order to maximize the value to your clients and to remain future-ready.
You are in a transformational period where you are seeing the least amount of change at the slowest rate of change that you will experience during the rest of your life. You may experience some failures, yet you should embrace them, as they can be your best career boosters.
Those are strong statements and generally require some time to think about and process. In “The Practice of Management,” originally published in 1954, Peter Drucker describes a parable of three stonecutters who were asked what they were doing. The first said, “I am making a living.” The second, without stopping work, said, “I am doing the best job of stonecutting in the entire country.” The third had a visionary gleam in his eyes and said, “I am building a cathedral.”
This parable illustrates the importance of seeing the bigger picture, having a shared vision, and not being distracted by the means to the end. The first individual is highly manageable, the second represents the real problem, and the third is a true leader and visionary.
Today we need a different type of workforce, one in which everyone is able to think, adapt, learn and create new value. I often simplify by saying, “Think — plan — grow.” Simplification is generally needed in order to break through the ceiling of complexity.
Identity tied to specific skills is very dangerous when the world is moving rapidly. A purpose-driven identity, a sense of self that transcends job title and skill sets, is the best defense against work-related obsolescence. Believe me, this isn’t easy for anyone trapped in a job that doesn’t provide the opportunity to think, plan and grow.
Here are some tools and shortcuts that may help you accelerate your transformation. The process is as complex as described above, yet the solution can be summarized into mindsets, skill sets and toolsets.
1. Mindsets. Many are familiar with Simon Sinek’s famous TED talk about his concept of the “Golden Circle” and his best-selling book “Start with Why.” To me, mindset is the biggest challenge for our profession. It requires unlearning as well as continuous learning of new skills. It has the potential of generational collaboration but runs the risk of competition and missing the opportunity to leverage the most-trusted-business-advisor designation. Our credentialing and continuing education systems must be transformed in order to remain relevant. The National Association of State Boards of Accountancy and the American Institute of CPAs should pay close attention.
Mindset often requires outside coaching and participation in a community focused on continuous learning and development, not just technical skills and continuing education credits.
2. Skill sets. The good news is that most accountants have good technical skills and the ability to learn. Flexibility is the ability to pivot from one tool in our toolbox to another, while adaptability requires us to add something new in order to create value. Please remember that all value is created through leadership, relationships and creativity.
3. Toolsets. Technology is rapidly providing new tools and augmenting human capacity and capabilities. Technology is a disruptor, but more importantly it is an enabler. It is not just making many jobs obsolete, but it is creating more new jobs requiring new mindsets, skill sets, and toolsets. Adaptability may require you to discard an existing tool and forge a new tool or shortcut. It may require unlearning an outdated business model. Therefore, the ability to learn and change faster than your competition is the only way to sustain a competitive advantage.
A good example of adaptability is with our cell phones. Twenty years ago, most people were able to memorize important phone numbers. We can either choose to be paranoid about artificial intelligence and technology taking our jobs, or we can rest assured that technology has a way of augmenting our human capacity and capabilities. Humans make sense of these applications, and the technology frees us from steps in our processes that can be automated and that often add little or no value.
Technology is always ahead of the regulators. Think about how automobile engines are rated and specified: horsepower. Humans will continue to reskill, upskill and reinvent themselves in order to adapt. The big difference: We have to adapt faster and more frequently. This is our competitive advantage.
By making reskilling and upskilling an everyday activity, we can continuously adapt so the new technologies are not so disruptive. In other words, new technology is anticipated (predicted) and we can plan accordingly. Work is being automated, atomized and augmented. Automated work is repetitive and known, while atomized work is discrete and predictable. Augmented work is more complex and ambiguous, with higher-level tasks and less-defined problems. Not only is the augmented work more complex, it is more valuable.
Complexity is often associated with technical expertise by the profession, but in today’s world, complexity is more about convergence of technology and resources (internal and external). The cloud enables the world to come together in a virtual workplace. Work that can be replaced by an algorithm will be. Future jobs will focus on computer-augmented expertise, portability and learning agility. The atomizable and automated elements will be stripped out.
Think — plan — grow!
