CFO Bookshelf Blog

Why has Taylor Swift trademarked her and her cats’ names? As Kary Oberbrunner tells us, we’re just like Taylor in that we’re all IP companies. In this conversation about IP, we learn about Instant IPᴵᴾ, the role blockchain plays in IP, the reason good fences make good neighbors, and IP holding companies. The book title we’re discussing is Kary’s, You Are an IP Company, which was kickstarted by one of the triggering events he addresses in his TEDx presentation. 

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Howard Schultz thought Starbucks was all about the coffee. Howard Behar knew better, despite having no college education and never having worked in the coffee or restaurant industry. Howard Behar worked one week for free before joining Starbucks, where he helped to shepherd the growth from a few stores to 15,000. Howard shares the lessons he discovered, practiced, and taught before and during his leadership at Starbucks, who is always preaching, “We’re in the human service business.”

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I know nothing about rowing, yet I like reading books about this sport because the necessary ingredients for success are similar in business and for the leaders who steer them to never-ending finish lines. Accordingly, CFO Bookshelf was thrilled to interview author and rowing coach, Dan Boyne.

[Read more…] about Connecting the Dots between Rowing and Business with Dan Boyne

There are only four books on performance measurement that I recommend to peers. My favorite is Transforming Performance Measurement by Dean Spitzer. Dean started his performance measurement journey while doing research at IBM. Like many innovators, he first found out what didn’t work. Ultimately, he discovered the four performance measurement success factors.

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I owe a debt of gratitude to long-time pricing expert, author, speaker, and podcast host, Ron Baker. On the Soul of Enterprise podcast, Ron and his co-host Ed Kless mentioned Matthew Stewart and his book, The Management Myth. I immediately listened to it and then read it (and a few more times since). I require every consultant I coach and mentor to read it.

[Read more…] about Have You Been Tripped Up by The Management Myth?

When you think of iconic and successful CEOs, names like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Howard Schultz, Jack Welch, and Sam Walton probably spring to mind. Can you name a 4-time CEO who orchestrated overwhelming turnarounds at each of his stopping points? I can, and his name is Hunter Harrison. He’s the subject of the book, Railroader: The Unfiltered Genius and Controversy of Four-Time CEO Hunter Harrison.

[Read more…] about Howard Green Tells the Story of One of the Greatest CEOs Ever

I read some 100-120 books annually, I skim probably a hundred others. I read dozens of whitepapers and journals just to keep my mind sharp during any 12-month period. While FP&A bleeds every beautiful color in my veins, books on the topic generally range from being dull to lifeless. That’s why our team started scoping out FP&A Directors to interview for our podcast. Our first selection included some luck and did not disappoint.

[Read more…] about A Global FP&A Director Talks Technology, Methods, and People

One of the best books I’ve ever read on LEAN from a CFO’s perspective is Real Numbers by Jean Cunningham, one of the co-authors of that book. I was deeply thankful we could pull Jean out of retirement for this insightful and informative discussion about the mindset and methodology of LEAN, which is about continuous improvement with respect for people. We discuss the goals of lean, plain-language financial reporting, the one-day close, kaizen, unit costs, her other books, and much more.

[Read more…] about Jean Cunningham, a Former CFO’s Perspective on Lean

Stacey Barr is the author of Practical Performance Measurement and Prove It!. She’s also the creator of the PuMP® framework which I believe is by far the best mental construct for learning and implementing performance measurements successfully in any organization large or small. This Australian-based teacher and consultant did not set out to be a performance measurement specialist. While she had a strong penchant for math and statistics, she first had her sites set on the medical profession.

[Read more…] about Practical Performance Measurement with Stacey Barr

What is your and? That is, what do you do outside work? That’s the topic of this episode of CFO Bookshelf. Our guest is a former PwC internal auditor turned stand-up comedian. John Garrett is now preaching a message of better corporate cultures through speaking and consulting, and he is the author of What’s Your And?

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