There is an old joke in business: Good/Fast/Cheap. Pick any two. What if you took one off the table? What is everything you offer has to be good? Then it can be fast, but not cheap. Or it can be cheap, but not fast. So you get paid well for working under pressure (which feels good), [...]
It is when I am in a flow state, a time of effortless focus, like a shortstop turning a double play or Arthur Rubinstein performing Chopin's Mazurkas, that I am the most valuable. I can create something of value for my clients. But during these times I am considerably less valuable in a human sense. [...]
It's probably not enough to know the tax code better than most other accountants. It is helpful, it shows that you are a serious and competent professional. But in the end clients don't care. What they care about is how you make them feel. That you take the time to carefully explain a matter, to [...]
You only get four, six if you are lucky. If part of what you sell is creative or problem-solving in nature, you may have noticed that the flow state required is not something you can keep up all day. The reality is that human beings can only sustain this level of deep work for about [...]
Today I was described as "prompt." So I have that going for me.
After the startupworkgrab, you know, the first months or years when a new business will take any paying work, there has to be a time of self reflection. You now have some data and you need to ask yourself some questions. I suggest that you pose these questions as negatives: What work is the least [...]
I view my career as a marathon. I plan to work until I am not physically able. Alternatively, I plan to die in my sleep or while having sex. In order to accomplish this goal it became clear to me that it is imperative that I take care of my body. I go to the [...]
Since starting my own business in July 2001, just weeks before the world changed in September 2001, there have been no shortage of, um, challenges. 9/11 itself was one of the first. There has always been some problem, some obstacle. This Gloomy Gus really summed it up for me: "There are no pleasant surprises when [...]
I met a man of the cloth at a party. I was struck by the man's charisma, his charm, his wit and his aura of grace. This man gave me courage and hope: if this is what Catholicism as all about, I am proud to be part of it! His name was Cardinal Theodore McCarrick. [...]
People (not me) take vacations in August. Europeans take almost the whole month off. God bless 'em. I took Friday off to watch a little golf at the Northern Trust. And I have jury duty next week. So guess who is working all weekend? This guy. Ah, self-employment. Why did I do this again?
