The primary desire of family business advisors, like myself, is to see family-owned businesses live on for many generations. But some family businesses are beyond saving and want to die peacefully. Those businesses need hospice. Hospice is a service and philosophy of care for terminally ill patients. Hospice has four primary goals: Relieve the pain...

Church announcements are symptomatic of a common business problem. Leaders intend to communicate useful information but fail to make it understandable to all of the audience. For example, this is the announcement made from the pulpit of my church yesterday: “If you are a first-time visitor, please tell us more about yourself by filling out...

Columbus never achieved his goal but we celebrate the outcome of his failure. Columbus was obsessed with finding a westward route to Asia from Spain. Finding it would enrich not only his Spanish patrons, primarily Queen Isabella, but himself as well. Columbus attempted and failed four times to find a westward route to Asia. On...

It took the dentist and his assistant only 10-minutes to perform my scheduled treatment. But I spent 60-minutes in the chair staring at a computer screen. What are the root causes for me wasting 50 minutes waiting for my treatment to be completed? To answer that question, I’ll use The 5-Whys method I was taught...

  We can chuckle at the cartoon, but its message is profound. During my recent speech to the Dallas-Fort Worth Institute of Management Accountants, I alerted them that their career competitors are no longer accountants that you can outrun or outwork. Robots, Siri-type Artificial Intelligence (AI) devices and computer algorithms have entered the accounting profession....

“Only the unprepared are afraid.“ Peyton Manning That was Peyton’s response when asked “Are you nervous before you speak to a large crowd?” I was not fearful or nervous before my speech last night for the Dallas-Fort Worth Institute of Management Accountants. The title I chose for my talk was Rich Accountant, Poor Accountant. Here’s...

“I wish there was a Waze app for navigating my business and career.“ When driving I use the Waze app on my cell phone because: It offers me alternative routes to my desired destination. It routes me around unexpected obstacles, like accidents. It re-routes me to my desired destination if I make a wrong turn...

President Dwight Eisenhower and President Abraham Lincoln share something unusual in common. Neither had the support of family or friends when they ran for president. No one in Lincoln’s family voted for him. And no one in Eisenhower’s home town of Denison, Texas voted for him. Though both lacked the moral support of family and...

Does your cost system need to be precise? Probably not. Does it need to be accurate. Yes! What’s the difference? The four pictures above begin to provide an answer. Accurate costs are random but near the target. For example, I have a refrigerator with a thermostat that keeps it a constant 38.0F. I test it with...

“Competitive advantage is now based on what you know rather than what you own.” Mary Adams Have you noticed that your customers, your boss, your co-workers, your friends and your family all share something in common? They all value what you know, not what you own. If you’re a plumber, the customer values your ability...