CFO Bookshelf

As my consulting practice started taking off about twenty years ago, I started reading everything I could by Fred Nickols, who blogged regularly for the software vendor, SmartDraw.Fred's articles were short, to the point, and always included a simple visual framework that was easy to comprehend. I ultimately read every post on that blog.Fred is a long-time consultant who calls himself a solutions engineer. In this conversation, we talk about his favorite frameworks and the origins of those mental models.

We live in a small business world where the Chief Fractional Officer is becoming indispensable.Before even considering hiring the Fractional Sales Manager, the Fractional Marketing Officer, or even the Fractional CFO, I'd start one hundred percent of the time with the Fractional Chief People Officer.Susannah Robinson has worked in big-company HR for more than twenty years. Now, as the head of a fractional people agency called Partnership for Talent, she has written a simple and pragmatic guide on organizational design for small businesses. In this conversation, we discuss her new book, Beyond the Boxes and Lines.Big Talk About Small BusinessEmpowering entrepreneurs with the insights to succeed in their ventures. Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Property Investing RoadmapProperty expert Damian Collins explores strategies for building your property portfolio.Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

I'm betting that over half the CFO Bookshelf listenership participate in an NCAA tournament basketball pool at the office. Accordingly, I thought I'd share a story from a basketball legend I don't think I've ever heard retold from a leadership expert during a speaking event.I end this special episode on my three favorite basketball movies. What are yours?

Before I start reading a book on Warren Buffett, and there are many, I want to know if this book has been written before—the ones where the narratives essentially state the same thing about Buffett's investing style.In the case of Brett Gardner's new book on Buffett, he checks all the boxes of a fascinating investment book. It's informative, inspiring, and even entertaining. More importantly, the book Buffett's Early Investments is not a rehash of Buffett material you've read before.Instead, Brett takes us on a journey involving several of Buffett's early stock acquisitions, how they shaped and molded his later investment style, and how these deals inspired the Berkshire Hathaway business model as we know it today.Big Talk About Small BusinessEmpowering entrepreneurs with the insights to succeed in their ventures. Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Property Investing RoadmapProperty expert Damian Collins explores strategies for building your property portfolio.Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

When I first experienced the Cynefin Framework in an HBR article many years ago, I never tried to adapt it to my work until I interviewed Bryce Hoffman, author of American Icon and Red Teaming, a few years ago. While Bryce made the Cynefin Framework seem more understandable and accessible, Kevin Eikenberry has gone further to show leaders how to act when surrounded by varying problems they are trying to navigate with this sensemaking framework.Kevin has written nearly 20 books, and his newest title is Flexible Leadership which includes a better approach to holistic thinking, the Cynefin Framework and the use of flexors.

CFO Bookshelf had never heard of Ivar Kreuger until the former Managing Director of CFO.com suggested we discuss the book, The Match King.Andy Burt joins Mark Gandy to explain why Ivar Kreuger is a financial mastermind worthy of studying and what led to his downfall.At one time, Kreuger was worth billions in today's dollars, but his empire, built on a house of debt, could not withstand the Great Depression or a subsequent audit when he tried to raise cash by liquidating a key asset.A story made for Hollywood reveals what drove Kreuger and why U.S. securities laws were created after his downfall.Exploring Workplace Mental Health with Dr. Bill HowattLearn the why, what and how of fostering a mentally healthy workplace with Dr Bill Howatt

I recently came across a book that's been out for over 10 years by an exceptional and tenacious researcher and an engaging writer, Lodewijk Petram. His book, The World's First Stock Exchange, might be the first to explore how early investors first bought and traded shares of the VOC of this next stock exchange.The founding of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) in 1602 marked the beginning of Amsterdam's rise from a modest market town to a global financial powerhouse. The Company's introduction of easily transferable shares quickly led to active trading, with investors exchanging them within days. Before long, the public was engaging in complex financial maneuvers—ranging from forwards and futures to options and bear raids. By 1680, the Amsterdam market had developed techniques as advanced as those used in modern finance, topics we explore in this conversation with Lodewijk.

When I think of the CFO's role, a few questions emerge: What will we invest in and reinvest in? How will we finance those investments? What about risk management? And what is the role of corporate governance in these activities?Not only does Don Chew answer those questions in his new book, but he also gives a name to all of his answers - corporate finance.In this conversation, Don Chew explains why he wrote The Making of Modern Corporate Finance and how it's different from old-fashioned corporate finance.Don's book offers insights, inspiration, and even entertainment at times. The book contains only four equations, which can relieve business students intimidated by complex math problems during their university years.

A financial executive no longer loved Mondays until a health scare changed his mindset a few years ago.Ron Monteiro is a financial expert who coaches other leaders. His book is Love Mondays: A Proven Process to Bring Joy Back into Your Work Week and Life.Ron teaches us four simple steps to becoming Monday Mavericks. He then outlines seven clever tactical steps for leaders in developing Monday Mavericks. The book ends with a dozen stories about Monday Mavericks.

When John Rossman is not busy delivering keynote addresses to large audiences or consulting with brands we recognize, he still finds time to write.John is making his third appearance on the show after our conversations about two of his other books: The Amazon Way and Big Bet Leadership.John's newest project is a 54-page manifesto entitled The Pig, The Lipstick, and The Playbook of Champions. It shows organizations how to escape their self-created world of mediocrity.

One book critic has asked readers of The Money Trap to imagine Michael Lewis as the President of a multinational investment holding company. Instead, Alok Sama is that person after working for Morgan Stanley for sixteen years.In this sometimes lighthearted but philosophical tome, occasionally sprinkled with dark humor and cleverness, Alok shares his most interesting stories while working next to one of the wealthiest men in the world. It's a story that includes investing insights, a smear campaign, and parent heartbreak.Learn fascinating insights from an investment banker with a strong mathematical and analytical mind who loves writing and reading great literature. This may be the only time you hear Mark Zuckerberg, John Nash, and Julius Ceasar mentioned in the same conversation.

David is a dermatologist whose practice can't seemingly make the money it should be.David meets a great accountant named Graham. Graham is a TOC bottleneck specialist for all types of businesses, not just manufacturing. He speaks and teaches his clients in a way that is easy to understand and can quickly implement the ideas.That's the storyline of Practice Makes Profit by Graham Scott. This book answers four questions: 1) why the money we spend on improvements rarely improves operating cash flow, 2) why business owners get stuck in a holding pattern, 3) how TOC can be used to solve simple problems, and 4) how to apply TOC outside of manufacturing.In this conversation, we address why bottleneck thinking applies to all types of businesses, why budgeting is not a solution for pairing costs, and how to offload work to non-bottlenecks.

When I think of Dave Ramsey, the elimination of debt and whole life insurance policies quickly spring to mind. In addition to his demonization of universal policies, were you aware of his 8-12 rule for retirement?David McKnight joins the show to discuss the 4 percent rule for retirement, annuities, and cash-basis insurance plans based on math, pragmatism, and wisdom.These topics are key themes in David's newest book, The Guru Gap. He has also written other best-selling books, including The Power of Zero, which has sold over 400,000 copies.David C Barnett Small Business and Deal Making M&A SMBI discuss buying, selling, financing and managing small and medium sized businesses...Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

What would happen if a business-minded Encylopedia Brown entered the busy line of movie patrons waiting impatiently for soda and popcorn?This perspective guided Clarke Ching in writing his latest book, The Bottleneck Detective. It offers a straightforward and enjoyable reading experience, focusing on identifying bottlenecks and understanding their subsequent effects on bottleneck detection.Mark explores Clarke's FoCCCus framework and whether bottleneck detection is a learned skill or an innate talent.World of Work Experts on the People and Performance PodcastInterviews with experts and business leaders focused on ways to inspire employees.

Are you fan of Daniel Kahneman, Dan Ariely, or Richard Thaler? Have you enjoyed books like Fooled by Randomness, Factfulness, or Thinking in Bets? If so, you may want to read Jaime Lester's new book, Pause to Think, about cognitive biases.Jaime's concise book is engaging, memorable, and accessible. It features over thirty mental and conceptual models. This discussion explores some of these concepts, including fast and slow thinking, sunk costs, satisfaction, and randomness.

Glenn Hopper's newest book is AI Mastery for Finance Professionals, but the content is also for CEOs, board members, and all other organizational leaders. We keep the topics pragmatic, applicable, and example-centric in this conversation. We'll also discover what Glenn means by saying, "AI will not replace people. People who use AI will replace those who don't use AI."

One of the best books I've read on leadership in several years is by a former big-company CEO who is now a professor. Willie Pietersen's third book is Leadership - The Inside Story.In this fast-moving conversation, we hear about how Nelson Mandela learned, unlearned, and relearned the central tenets of philosophy and leadership well before his vision of a unified country could become a reality.We also learn how a diamond is formed and how those three forces apply to leadership. The question that won a war is profound, as is finding out what happens when an elder dies.

When I think of HP, three things quickly emerge in my mind: Deskjet and laser printers, the 12C calculator, and David Packard's The HP Way.The HP Way is one of my top 25 books written by CEOs. In this conversation, we're rolling with a book club format with a special guest who writes book summaries on his blog. Dan Lebrero is a software engineer based in Spain, and he'll help us unpack concepts such as MBO, management by walking around, profit-sharing plans, corporate offsites, growth frameworks, and philosophies on debt management. 

Cat Mulvihill is becoming a rising YouTube star with her video content focused on communication and presentation skills, including technology, Zoom, and personal knowledge management systems.This conversation teaches us what sets the best professionals apart from the rest on their Zoom calls. We gain insights on the best mics, videocams, and other technologies to use. We also wrap up the visit with simple ways to kill our filler words.

If you work for yourself or would like to, have you ever thought about whose shoulders you are standing on, especially if you decide to have no employees?Ben Waterhouse is a professor and faculty director at the University of North Carolina. His research interests include deciphering how self-employment became a key to personal fulfillment, a central topic in his newest book, One Day I'll Work for Myself.In this conversation, we explore some of history's most pivotal stories that led to the plateau of big business starting in the late 1800s and reaching its peak in the 1970s. We learn why the move to self-employment became a potential remedy to professional and personal relevance in Ben's engaging style. 

Have you ever wondered how Amazon, Netflix, and Starbucks started their customer personalization programs? What was the starting point? What were the costs? Who was involved?The co-authors answer these questions in the very readable Competing on Personalization: Customer Experience in the Age of AI.Mark Abraham and David Edelman explain that personalization is not email or glorified loyalty rewards programs. Instead, this cross-functional activity starts with a few simple questions in their 5 Promises framework, a launching pad for creating a customer personalization journey. 

If you were to ask me about my favorite book on private equity, I would say The Private Equity Playbook by Adam Coffey. The book is easy to read, the math is simple and impactful, and the stories are based on a former CEO who understands the intricacies behind private equity.Adam has released the second edition of this book, which is about 20 percent longer with new material. This conversation addresses the continued growth of private equity, committed capital, Adam's 70-30 rule, and a funny locksmith story.

As a financial leader, I want to know every aspect of business. While quarterbacking my share of ERP implementations, I had only once heard the term PMO (short for Project Management Office). Accordingly, I wanted to learn more.After reading Laura Barnard's new book on PMOs, I quickly realized she is probably the global thought leader on this subject.Laura's new book is The IMPACT Engine: Accelerating Strategy Delivery for PMO and Transformation Leaders. We spend most of our time unpacking her IMPACT Engine System, which has a 100% success rate. In the lightning round, we cover MVPs vs. prototypes, perfectionism, lovers and haters, outcomes vs. outputs, and 30-90s. 

 Numerous financial blog articles and LinkedIn posts highlight the benefits of a small business owner hiring a portfolio CFO. However, I do not recall these writers commenting on why financial professionals step away from the W-2 world to serve multiple owners as clients instead of sticking to a steady paycheck.Sara Daw may be the first author to articulate why CFOs jump into the gig economy through her comprehensive research, which we can read about in Strategy and Leadership as Service. In this conversation, we hit on access vs. ownership, psychological ownership, career future-proofing, and liquid vs. solid consumption.

How did Charles Cowlam resort to a lifelong career in crime during the Gilded Age?During this fascinating interview, the author of A Wonderful Career Crime accidentally uncovers several fascinating nuggets of U.S. history that would otherwise remain undetected by well-known historians.Frank Garmon shares his favorite stories of Cowlam's life as a fraudster, bigamist, and swindler. He takes us to the origin of how this micro-history came to be in book form. We also learn how the wisdom of crowds revealed Cowlan's true identity in a world without LinkedIn and Facebook.

Like the show? Send us a text message on what you liked.Strategic planning and real estate companies are not word pairings we are used to hearing. However, Charlie Hewlett is changing that mindset.Charlie is the managing director at RCLCO, a company based in the Washington, D.C., metro area. He co-authored Strategy for Real Estate Companies.Our topics include the definition of a real estate company, a short definition of strategic planning, what strategic planning is not, SWOT, POVs, plan lengths, and who should work on the strategy process.

Like the show? Send us a text message on what you liked.What do you know about Jay Gould's life, and how does he compare to the other robber barons of his day? More importantly, is his life worth examining?Mark discusses Gould's upbringing in this book review, which influenced his desire to be rich. Learn about one of the most significant market corners on Wall Street and the man who helped to create America's economic expansion during the internet era of his day.The Growth GearExplore business growth and success strategies with Tim Jordan on 'The Growth Gear.Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Like the show? Send us a text message on what you liked.Mark provides five titles in this special CFO Bookshelf episode that inspire and educate. Mark wraps up the show with some financial food for thought - what statement do you present first in a reporting package and why?

Like the show? Send us a text message on what you liked.What is a Fractional CFO? That term has become a household name for financial experts who help small business owners in various industries.However, do we have a concise and complete definition for this type of professional services provider?In this special episode, we break down what the fractional CFO is based on their three unique and primary roles to small business owners. We also give the best definition of a CFO you have probably never heard before.

Like the show? Send us a text message on what you liked.As I think about our next guest, Jody Grunden, he reminds me of the successful business leader who Mixergy's Andrew Warner should feature. Jody co-founded Summit CPA Group in the early 2000s and decided to focus on financial leadership instead of offering the conventional services many small firms provided.This discussion addresses the accounting shortage, effective accountants, and why accounting professionals have nothing to fear about AI technologies.FranchiseU!FranchiseU! is for those in, or considering, careers within the world of franchising. Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Like the show? Send us a text message on what you liked.When did you start using Excel, and how did you learn it?Jeff Lenning is the founder of Excel University, and he joins us to discuss the biggest mistakes he sees in Excel workbooks, the differences between formal and informal training, and why both are critical.We also walked down memory lane, discussing when we started using Excel and some of our favorite functions inside this powerful application.Finally, we tip our cap to two very famous Excel MVPs and why we do so.Life Money & More A Podcast About Life, and Money. Hosted by Youtuber, and Real Estate Agent Sage WeissListen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Like the show? Send us a text message on what you liked.What would you be willing to do to feel alive in your work every day? Jack Craven asks executives from all walks of life this question.Jack is the author of Aliveness Mindset: Lead and Live with More Passion, Purpose, and Joy. His book includes more than a dozen tools and frameworks for starting the journey of aliveness.Some topics we hit in this conversation include where aliveness starts, David Robsen's expectation effect, the actual vs. the ideal self, anchoring mindsets, accelerance, and magic words.David C Barnett Small Business and Deal Making M&A SMBI discuss buying, selling, financing and managing small and medium sized businesses...Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify What If? So What?We discover what's possible with digital and make it real in your businessListen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Like the show? Send us a text message on what you liked.I list the top business books I've read over the previous year each January. At the end of 2024, The Venture Mindset by Ilya Strebulaev and Alex Dang will easily be in my top three and possibly my overall favorite.The Venture Mindset reads fast and reminds me a little of Kahneman, Munger, and books about Buffett.Some of the big ideas we cover in this episode with both authors include roof shots vs. moonshots, betting on jockeys vs. the horses, winning at the piggy bank game, and what we can learn from student VC partnerships.This book is not just for those in the VC community. There are many takeaways for those working in and running small businesses.Life, Money, and More A Podcast Built for those who want to make their Money, and Life Better Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify David C Barnett Small Business and Deal Making M&A SMBI discuss buying, selling, financing and managing small and medium sized businesses...Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify What If? So What?We discover what's possible with digital and make it real in your businessListen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Like the show? Send us a text message on what you liked.I had never heard of Edmond Safra until I read Daniel Gross's informative and inspiring biography, A Banker's Journey.For those who knew him and did business with him, he was everyone's favorite banker. His banks never had to write off loans, and many of his early deals were on a handshake. He never needed a government bailout, nor did he ever head to DC complaining about regulations. While his professional and personal story is uplifting, the Shakespearian periods of his life include the American Express saga and how he died.During this conversation, Dan Gross gives us a dozen compelling reasons to revisit this banker's remarkable life.Make More with Matt HeslinExplore strategies to thrive financially, build legacy, and enhance life experiences.Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Our newest guest may not be a best-selling author on real estate yet, but we're already predicting this former World Cup soccer player will soon be a household name in Dave Ramsey's world in a few years.Vaughn Bethell is the founder of REI Junkies based in South Carolina, and in this episode, we learn his unique process of providing real estate investors with a different way to reduce stress and frustration in their investments.David C Barnett Small Business and Deal Making M&A SMBI discuss buying, selling, financing and managing small and medium sized businesses...Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

One of the best management books ever written is The Effective Executive, by Peter Drucker, published in 1966. Managing For Results and The Practice of Management are other favorites of this show.Randy Wooton joins us to discuss the big ideas in The Effective Executive. He's a three-time CEO and has held senior positions at Microsoft and Salesforce. He is also the host of The SaaS Expert Voices Podcast and serves as Maxio's chief executive.In this conversation, we address why we study Drucker and his ideas on time management, effective decisions, knowledge workers, and setting priorities.Make More with Matt HeslinExplore strategies to thrive financially, build legacy, and enhance life experiences.Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify David C Barnett Small Business and Deal Making M&A SMBI discuss buying, selling, financing and managing small and medium sized businesses...Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Consumers and anyone who studies business understand the subscription economy, but what about the usage economy? What is it? How does it differ from the subscription economy? Does it matter?Adam Howatson is the CEO of LogiSense and the author of The Usage Economy. In this conversation, Adam will give examples of companies that got it right with their usage-based pricing models and those that made serious mistakes, such as Wink.We'll also learn about telemetry, AI's fit, and the most important information metrics for transitioning into the usage economy.

Have you ever left a movie theater where a film left you speechless and made you feel like you needed to rewatch parts of it to figure out what you were missing?Jeff Hooke's book, The Myth of Private Equity, left me feeling that way after finishing each chapter of his tell-all book about the exaggerations and overstatements of the private equity marketing machine.During this conversation, we learned much about the myths of PE funds focused on leveraged buyouts. Some of the big ideas in this conversation include the enormous fees fund managers are collecting, the poor fund performance these funds generate, and the lack of transparency in their reporting to institutional investors.We'll also learn about one of Warren Buffett's worst investment decisions and his advice on where retail and institutional investors should invest their money. 

My favorite go-to person on all matters, Tableau and Dataviz, is Andy Kriebel.Andy was the first person to create a YouTube channel on Tableau. His subscriber base has surpassed 61,000, and his 750+ videos have 7.5 million views and counting.Andy is the co-author with Eva Murray of the book #Makeover Monday, and you can also follow his informative and insightful helpful hints each day on LinkedIn.In this conversation, we find out why Andy has been publishing online for more than ten years, why asking for a dashboard is rarely the right starting point for Dataviz, and why his five daily habits, which I found to be pure gold.

I have my theories on why W. Edwards Deming is not a household name in 'all' business circles. Many view him as the 'quality' guy who had an impact on Japanese manufacturing after the second world war.That view is limiting as Deming's management mindset was complete with four central tenets:PragmatismThe Law of VariationHuman psychologySystems ThinkingI used to recommend Mary Walton's book to start learning about Deming. That book gave way to a new title by Edward Martin Baker. After meeting and interviewing Gene Kim a few months ago, I now have a favorite book on Deming by John Willis. The title is Deming's Journey to Profound Knowledge. John was one of the earliest cloud evangelists and is considered one of the founders of the DevOps movement. John is the author of 7 IBM Redbooks. He is also the co-author of the “DevOps Handbook” and “Beyond the Phoenix Project” along with author Gene Kim.During this conversation, we talk about Deming's influences to how he became such a complete thinker in helping others to improve.

Cory Doctorow is a science fiction author, technology activist, and journalist. He has written many books, most recently The Bezzle, a follow-up to Red Team Blues, which are the two books we'll discuss in this episode.These two books are the beginning of a series featuring the fictional forensic accountant Martin Hench. Hench is self-employed, loves being on the red team, and rakes in 25% of the assets he can recover.Cory's books are fast-paced and entertaining but also deeply thought-provoking, especially The Bezzle.Cory has authored many books, is a long-time blogger and journalist, and hosts a podcast. You can learn more about him at his website, Craphound.

Alfred Sloan's My Years with General Motors was an immediate success and is considered one of the best management books written by CEOs of his era. Before his book, we'd probably have to go back to Henry Ford's autobiography to find a management book of this popularity.And then there's Harvey Firestone's book, which CFO Bookshelf considers a gem. Originally published in 1926, the great people behind the Farnam Street blog have republished Men and Rubber, and the author's message is as relevant now as when he published it.During this episode, we hit some of the big themes in this book:Money, capital, and planningThe key to selling and no superstarsTreating people right and employee ownershipDeep thinking and decision-makingTaking time off and Ford's vagabondsClick for the show notes at CFO Bookshelf.

Gary Stevenson grew up in an impoverished area of East London where he could hold his life's belongings in two arms. About three years after graduating from the London School of Economics, Citibank made him a millionaire at a very young age.Gary was 'all in' on winning the trading game. But did overnight success bring him happiness? And why did he want to leave the Citibank trading floor?Gary tells his story in his new book, The Trading Game, which I believe is this era's Liar's Poker, but with more life lessons shared in this special book. Some of the topics explored include:The reason why it's challenging to get a job on a trading floorGary's childhood and how it influenced his drive to masteryThe reason poor people are looked down upon by the richGary's first day on the trading floor in 2007Profound thoughts on the mindset of a traderThe P&Ls of traders and how they got paidThe meaning of negative 4.5% interest ratesMoney was never Gary's driverHealth and mental stress in TokyoAdvice for kids wanting to be tradersGary's YouTube channelReturn to the classicsBusiness Beyond Borders: Impactful Insights for AccountantsEmpowering Accountants: Explore Trends, Strategies, Global Staffing & Impactful Insights!Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Agile, DevOps, TPS, TOC, Deming's System of Profound Knowledge. Is there a mental construct or latticework that connects these robust systems?In Wiring the Winning Organization, Gene Kim and Steve Spear introduce the concepts of the three layers of work and social circuitry. The book also explains the book's three biggest learning pillars: Simplification, Slowification, and Amplification.Business Beyond Borders: Impactful Insights for AccountantsEmpowering Accountants: Explore Trends, Strategies, Global Staffing & Impactful Insights!Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Readers of  Corporate Counsel do not need to be legal professionals to enjoy this short book writen as a business fable.Anna is leaving a prestigious law firm to become the first in-house lawyer at a regional real estate firm in the Midwest. The book includes drama, conflict, and a grey beard, Anna's guide throughout the story.Our guest is the author, Peter Carayiannis, and some of the topics we address include:Anna's first 100 daysThe wrong reason to hire an in-house lawyerThe concept of budgets and #LegalOpsThe Big 3 of risk mitigationDefinitions for ASLP and MLSThe moral authority in a businessA full-scope legal review of all corporate documentsBusiness Beyond Borders: Impactful Insights for AccountantsEmpowering Accountants: Explore Trends, Strategies, Global Staffing & Impactful Insights!Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Of all the books written about Warren Buffett, I am unaware of any authors who grew up in Omaha, Nebraska and went to school with his children.Todd Finkle is the author of Warren Buffett: Investor and Entrepreneur, a book that was fourteen years in the making.If you are a Buffett student, perhaps you will have heard several of Todd's stories, but are you aware of Buffett's numerous investing mistakes throughout the years or several of Charlie Munger's thoughts on behavioral investing?In this conversation, we also discussed three of my favorite stories in the book. My favorite is the five-hour conversation between Buffett and Davy Davidson, and Todd does a great job of filling in the details.You can find additional resources to the conversation on the show notes page.Business Beyond Borders: Impactful Insights for AccountantsEmpowering Accountants: Explore Trends, Strategies, Global Staffing & Impactful Insights!Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Everyday AI: Keep up and get ahead by making AI work for yourCan't keep up with AI? We've got you. Everyday AI helps you keep up and get ahead.Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

John Rossman is making his second appearance on CFO Bookshelf. We interviewed him two years ago for one of our top 10 books of 2022, The Amazon Way, Amazon's 14 Leadership Principles.John's newest book which he co-authored with Kevin McCaffrey is Big Bet Leadership. Highlights from the conversation include:What is and what is not a big betA topic for low- and high-tech companies, bothBig bets are generally found in Day 1 organizationsSmall teams vs. R&D labsThinking, environment, managementThe power of writingThe portfolio of ideas with limited resourcesThe lightning round - lazy pivot, Chief Repeating Officer, quivers, MLPsJohn's recent favorite booksFull Show Notes

Gary Harpst co-founded the ERP solution Solomon Software, which was ultimately sold to Great Plains. The CFO Bookshelf enjoys Gary's work and past books, including Six Disciplines for Excellence and Six Disciplines Revolution.Gary's newest book has been 40 years in the making. The title is Built to Beat Chaos: Biblical Wisdom for Leading Yourself and Others. A few of the themes we cover in this conversation include:addressing the elephant in the room, the integration of faith in the workplacethe Great Plains storyA leader's first and second responsibilitythe reason Monet destroyed some paintingsthe reason a specific management system doesn't matter based on 1200 businesses studiedhow to get the 85% involved and the impact on one-to-one timethe 100-point exercisethe Harold Morgan storywisdom and tips for learning to mentor othersthe purpose and mission of LeadFirst.ai

A Beautiful Constraint by Morgan and Barden: is it a marketing, branding, psychology, or management book? Or is it all four?In this episode, Willy Donaldson (Simple_Complexity and Estimated Time of Departure) and I discuss five of the biggest ideas in the thought-provoking book A Beautiful Constraint. The authors state the goal is not to eliminate a constraint but to leverage it. Their book explains how.Below are some of the topics we addressed:the definition of a constraintGoldratt's definitionreasons you may not need to read the bookthe relationship between ambition and constraintsthe three-part continuum of thought: victim, neutralizer, transformerpath dependence and an impactful poemcan-if thinkingthe problem with too many resourcesthumbs up or thumbs downDuring the conversation, we mentioned this book would be a great master class where a one-hour conversation could provide all of the ideas and tools created by the authors. If you are not ready to read the book yet, this YouTube video by one of the authors is a great starting point.

Since starting the CFO Bookshelf podcast, I have released a ‘favorite books' show each January. I've always been reluctant to do so because my reading tastes may differ from yours. However, these episodes are some of the most downloaded in our podcast catalog. In this discussion, I list my Top 10 books, honorable mentions, fiction, and even books that I did not like. Other insights include what and how much to read and if fiction matters.Access the List

Many pricing books are heavy in ideas, abstractions, and behavioral science mind-shifting. Others are focused merely on simple tactics.Jean-Manual Izaret's (JMI) book, Game Changer, fills a void by showing readers and pricing practitioners how to approach pricing strategically through cleverly designed frameworks and thought-provoking questions.This conversation starts with who should read this book and why a cover-to-cover reading is unnecessary. Other topics include:Ford's greatest insightThe cupcake pricing dilemmaThe three pricing tools: elasticity, differentiation, game theoryThe reason why pricing methods and pricing strategy are not the same thingJMI's framework gridJMI's seven gamesBuyers, sellers, and offersA definition of pricing governanceA deeper dive into the uniform gameMicrosoft vs. IntuitNext steps for owners and pricing teamsJMI's favorite booksImportant LinksJMI's bio page at The Boston Consulting GroupTED Talk - A New Netflix-style Pricing Model