The most downloaded show on CFO Bookshelf is our 2020 interview view Ben Lamorte on OKRs. It was Ben who introduced me to Christina Wodtke’s work on OKRs years ago which included her great presentation entitled, Executioner’s Tale and her book Radical Focus. Christina recently released the 2nd edition of Radical Focus, our topic on this episode of CFO Bookshelf.
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Niching Down and Burying the Billable Hour
In 2004, I first encountered the name, Ron Baker. I have Gary Boomer to thank for that at an event held in Kansas City for CPA practices. He recommended the book, The Firm of the Future. I couldn’t put it down while vacationing in North Carolina. While I consider Ron the (very young) grandfather of value pricing for CPA and professional services firms, many acolytes are sharing his message with zeal and effectiveness. One such person is Geraldine Carter.
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If You Liked College Behind Bars
During the winter months, I watched College Behind Bars which I thought was outstanding. Yes, I’m the guy who believes in putting the bad guys behind bars, but this film opened my eyes to rehabilitation and what it takes to reduce recidivism rates in the U.S. If you did see the series and liked it, now what? I have a few book suggestions that will augment what you saw.
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Ben Mosior on Better Decisions with Wardley Mapping
Once I started getting the general idea of Wardley Mapping, I still wanted to learn more. And that’s when I kept bumping into the great teaching of Ben Mosier who runs Learn Wardley Mapping (LWM) as well as his YouTube videos at ben at hiredthought. Behind his back, I’m calling him the Ryan Holiday or Shane Parrish of Wardley Mapping.
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Strategy Meets Wardley Mapping
I found the work of Simon Wardley several years ago, and I was hooked from the very beginning of his message on visualizing strategy. I’ve never been satisfied with annual strategic planning exercises. The work seems forced if not a bit contrived at times. In this discussion, we talk about Sun Tzu’s five factors, the OODA Loop, mapping, doctrine, and other key concepts of Wardley Mapping.
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ESOPs and Create Amazing with Greg Graves
Greg Graves is the former CEO for the employee-owned engineering firm, Burns & McDonnell based in Kansas City, Missouri. Greg’s new book is Create Amazing which a readable, informative, and even at times, an inspiring discussion on ESOPs. In this interview, several themes surfaced including how a band of committed employee owners tamed rivers and captured the wind by making a difference for the clients they served.
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The Microsoft Mastermind Behind the E-Strategy
Brad Chase was the marketing mastermind behind one of the most successful software launches ever – Windows 95. He replicated this success while serving at Microsoft on several other high-profile projects. Brad is the author of Strategy First: How Businesses Win Big. In this episode, we discuss the big ideas in his book including the E-Strategy and simple formula that’s simple, impactful, and memorable.
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What is a Rock Star CFO?
There is typically a 4-6 week delay between interviewing a podcast guest and going live with the show. Waiting on this one seemed like forever. Jack McCullough is the CFO of all CFOs. He’s the founder and President of The CFO Leadership Council. He’s also the author of Secrets of Rock Star CFOs, a book he released in 2019. In this episode, we talk about the traits of great CFOs.
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John Raskob – The First CFO of the Modern Era
David Farber’s Everybody Ought to Be Rich is now one of my favorite books in the business history genre of narrative non-fiction. Who helped the DuPont family take their business public? Who introduced DuPont to Billy Durant and General Motors? Who built and found the funding for The Empire State Building? It was the $10-a-week clerk who became the first CFO of the modern business era, John Raskob.
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A CFO’s Playbook for Data Science and Analytics
If I’m going to listen to a data science and analytics expert for nearly an hour, that person better speak a language that I can understand and who is relatable. I got lucky and found that person, and his name is Jon Daniels of BambooHR. In this episode, he talks about data lakes, data warehousing, ETL, data governance, no intelligence, BI, and AI.
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