Learning the Skill of Anticipation is Game-Changing and Required

We announced this week that HORNE is the nation’s first accounting firm to partner with The Anticipatory Organization and train its team members with “The Anticipatory Organization™: Accounting and Finance Edition.”

What in the world does that mean you might ask? The short answer is this: accountants are operating in a world defined by accelerating change and complexity. As a result, the ability to anticipate (disruptions, problems, customer needs and new opportunities) will be the most important skill any business person can possess. I firmly believe that. So, we’re teaching our team at HORNE the skillset of anticipation as we build the Wise Firm building blocks of Forward Thinking and Windshield View.

Just for some background, it will be helpful to know that we’ve been working with Futurist Dan Burrus, the author of Flash Foresight and The Anticipatory Organization training modules we are using. Since the summer, he has been helping us to understand the hard trends facing our firm and profession, as well as to act on the opportunities we see. Now, we’re committing to carrying that same anticipatory mindset to our clients. Reacting to change is no longer enough, because clients are starving for anticipatory guidance. 

For us, it is about relevance. And in order for HORNE (or any other firm) to stay relevant to our clients, we must learn to anticipate change and help prepare for the opportunities before they arrive. We are also committed to prepare our team members for the future—the opportunity to learn anticipatory skills make them future-ready. It also ensures that our firm will even become more relevant to our clients.

The status quo of reporting as historians, or simply reacting to change, will only lead to the commoditization of our services, skills and knowledge. We have to preactively guide our clients with our Forward Thinking and Windshield View. I think we are well on our way.

You can learn more about “The Anticipatory Organization™: Accounting and Finance Edition” at https://landing.blionline.org/the-anticipatory-organization/.

About the Author
Kathy Watts, CPA, CHC, is a risk taker, one who asks hard questions and doesn’t shy away from healthy conflict as long as it pushes us forward.  She is the partner in charge of healthcare, a member of HORNE’s Board of Directors, and the first leader at HORNE to sign up her entire team to learn how to anticipate the opportunities for their clients based on future facts.