beBetter 

After two years without a dog in our home, CeCe and I dove into the pandemic puppy trend and welcomed our new Yorkie, Oliver. Oliver is six months old and has been with us for three months now. Finally, we have a dog that is slightly more attached to me than CeCe. It’s one of the positives that COVID brought us as I have worked from home more.  

A few weeks ago, we kicked off a new blog series, 5 Questions that Might Make Us #beEvenBetter, to address the challenges facing accounting firms today. These five questions will help us continually monitor and change our direction and strategies. We've already discussed the first question, Are we really moving fast enough? Today, let's focus on the next question, What would have to be true for us to change our direction, mind or assumptions?

Growing up, I was a big fan of Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin. I loved their comedy and thought the chemistry between them was pretty special. I watched their shows as often as I could.  Now, I realize I probably just dated myself and some of you are thinking, “Who?”

This past summer, CeCe and I took a trip to Beaver Creek Resort in Colorado with my brother, Mike, and his wife, Joy. As part of the trip, we planned a fly fishing excursion. CeCe loves to fly fish. When we arrived, the weather abruptly changed for part of the week so we adjusted our fishing days. We also discovered that it was low water due to drought and we could only fish half a day due to the stress on the fish. Later, we experienced that when the water is low, lots and lots of slippery moss forms on the rocks.  So when you combine moving water with slippery rocks, you get a tough time fishing. 

In the last two blogs of this series, we pulled the curtain back on innovation and growth strategies for large firms. This blog and the next two will discuss some observed trends that are not as prominent across the major firms but they are prevalent. In each of these, there are firms that are being very intentional to implement strategic initiatives that they believe are relevant for the future as well as distinctive for them as a firm. Surely, if we ask enough questions, we can learn something from these trends. 

We’ve already pulled back the curtain on trends and opportunities to innovate by visiting strategies of Top 100 CPA firms as well as industry thought leaders. Now, let’s pull back the curtain on what appears to be the primary growth strategy for large firms and certainly for our profession. As we will soon see, there will be no surprises behind this curtain but we may be surprised at the opportunities and challenges hidden behind this strategy.