CFO Bookshelf Blog

Gordon Graham accepted an IT position at a public utility district in rural Washington because its core values and guiding principles aligned with his. The PUD’s culture started spiraling downward after a new general manager with narcissistic tendencies pushed an agenda with financially damaging outcomes. These behaviors and other bizarre actions resulted in Gordon’s inexcusable termination, which he tells in his book, The Intrepid Brotherhood: Public Power, Corruption, and Whistleblowing in the Pacific Northwest.

I stumbled upon John Seddon’s website, The Vanguard Method, a few years ago. At the time, I read every page, post, and short tutorial in one sitting. I followed that binge-reading with his book, Beyond Command and Control, which is the topic for this episode. John teaches us about failure demand, break-fix systems, the destructive nature of arbitrary targets, and budget management. We also gain greater insights into outside-in thinking through a systems mindset.

If you are looking for the PayPal version of Brad Stone’s, The Everything Store, that book has arrived. Jimmy Soni is the author behind The Founders where he takes us on a deep, yet informative and eye-opening journey from PayPal’s pre-startup days to just after its IPO. The book is rich with insights we’ve never heard before, and the bookends are incredible–the three-hour conversation with Elon Musk and the moving and inspiring epilogue.

Gaining media attention may not be an ongoing goal for many growing businesses. However, a former TV host and Emmy-award winner in consumer reporting explains that if we can pitch the media effectively, we can sell anything to anyone. Katrina Cravy is the author of On Air: Insider Secrets to Attract the Media and Get Free Publicity. This easy-to-read book also has far-reaching applications for presentations, pitches of any type, and YouTube videos.

One of the best management books I’ve read in years is easily Play Bigger by four marketing experts. Al Ramadan and his co-authors did not invent the term category design, a concept that has been around for years. Instead, their research into some five thousand businesses driven by their curiosity resulted in giving category design a name along with some key disciplines to becoming a category champion. We also call it a mini-MBA that could replace strategic planning.

Output, Outcomes, Impact. Those are three strong words that seemingly go well together in any context. But is there a clear difference between each term? Josh Seiden is the author of Outcomes Over Output, and he provides one of the best definitions of outcomes I have ever heard–a change in customer behavior that leads to better business results. While the message is simple, moving from output thinking to an outcomes-based mindset requires a change in habits.