Bookmarks 125

Weekly Bookmarks –
125th Edition – June 27, 2021

There is not a market for jobs, per se, but there is a market for people who can create value.

Mind Over Matter by Ron Baker

1. The Three Types of Intellectual Capital

Ron Baker is the co-host of The Soul of Enterprise and a global expert on pricing strategies for professional services firms.

I started reading his signed copy of Mind Over Matter which outlines three types of intellectual capital you’ll never find on a balance sheet:

• human capital – leaves the door every night
• structural capital – what remains when everyone leaves at night
• social capital – everyone on the outside such as customers

Intellectual capital along with pricing and business effectiveness (doing the right things) is the path to profits. If this is a true statement as posited in Ron’s book, what’s negative intellectual capital?

This week, be thinking of examples of negative human, structural, and social capital and how to eliminate or avoid these robbers of intellectual capital.

2. A Simple Requirement for Every P&L

Thornton O’Glove is the author of Quality of Earnings. He teaches his readers how to be experts in finding hidden clues to high- or low-quality of earnings in public company financial reports with plenty of examples.

For example, O’Glove uses three pages to reveal the real drivers of a 19% increase in IBM earnings in 1984 with depreciation being at the top of the list along with a one-time reduction in employee benefits. Without that financial engineering, profits would have only increased 1.2%.

While we’ll never see this in public company reporting, I believe financial reporting would be more insightful if we always included unit- and priced-based measures at the top of every P&L such as the following in this simple example from a small consulting practice:

3. Chuck Coonradt is a Legend in the Consulting World

I’m calling Chuck Coonradt the owner, general manager, and MVP head coach of The Game of Work. Chuck has also been referred to as the grandfather of gamification.

I got to interview Chuck on our podcast this week, and one of the overriding themes was consistent and clear feedback from our coaches and those we coach.

Like sports, feedback is instantaneous and specific, not ambiguous (unless it’s figure skating).

4. Hybrid Jobs

Regarding podcasts, I’m prepping for a summer interview with Gilbert Eijkelenboom, the author of People Skills for Analytical Thinkers.

Not only is he a professional poker player, he’s built a career in data & analytics.

He cites a 2018 LinkedIn report revealing communication and collaboration as two of the top three skills to learn. He mentions a 2019 study by Deloitte with similar findings – the highest acceleration in salaries are called ‘hybrid jobs’ bringing together technical skills and soft skills.

I don’t think we’ll encounter anyone disagreeing with these findings. But a debate may ensue on how to build and strengthen these skills.

Start with the book. His input-process-output algorithm is practical, impactful and easy to learn.

5. The ABC Model Breakthrough

When I was attending the Strategic Coach in Chicago over a three-year time period, the founder of that organization had made the decision to write a new book quarterly over the next 25 years. I believe Dan Sullivan has not missed a quarter.

One of those little books is a goodie, even for those of us not running a business. It’s The ABC Model Breakthrough.

Dan categorizes our work into three activities:

A – irritating – eliminate B – okay – delegate C – fascinating – expand

Here are some of my observations:

• All of us have A and B activities. Assume your A and B activities take 75% of your time. Can that time be minimized, and if so, how?
• This model is not just for owners and senior leaders – it’s for everyone. If you are in a management position, how are you helping your team members to reduce A activities?
• C activities are not fixed. They will change over time as our interests, experiences, and capabilities grow.

Don’t led this short book fool you. It’s thought-provoking.

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Recent Bookmarks – 124 | 123 | 122

Deep in the Archives – Bookmarks 36 – Negotiating Skills, On vs. In, Time Management, Effective Executives, Tina Fey on the Farm

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Always be learning and growing.