No Pain, No Gain

We have all heard the phrase “no pain, no gain.” And the promise of greater rewards for the price of painful work has certainly proven true in most aspects of my life. But how does “no pain, no gain” apply to the future of our profession? 

“If you don’t mind disrupting yourself, you will be fine. Otherwise, someone will do it for you.” A bold statement from keynote speaker Simon Sinek at the AICPA Engage conference and his message was very telling for the future of our profession. 

Three years ago, I first shared with our firm that we must endure the pain of putting the “old” HORNE out of business and build a “new” HORNE to be successful in the future. But even when communicating this future view, most of us still stop short of significantly changing business models and never actually disrupt ourselves.

Why? Intellectually, we understand and believe the “no pain, no gain” concept, but when we are really honest, aren’t we happy just making incremental changes and innovation? 

If you believe Simon Sinek, Barry Melancon, Daniel Burrus, Tom Peters and other leaders who share a similar vision, we might want to consider better ways to gauge our progress and assess the disruption that will lead to a brighter future.

In the latest CPA Insider newsletter, I explore some questions that can help us approach the future with an open mindset and lead to better accountability for progress on disruption. Read the full article at the link below.