HBK CPAs and Consultants Implements Revolutionary Learning System to Create an Anticipatory, Future-Ready Firm
(PRWEB) May 08, 2018 -- In a world defined by accelerating change and complexity, the ability to anticipate disruptions, problems, and game-changing opportunities will be the most important skill any business person can possess.
Agility—reacting quickly after a problem or disruption occurs—is no longer good enough in a world driven by technology that is changing at exponential speeds. It is now imperative to learn how to anticipate your firm’s and your client’s predictable problems before they happen and pre-solve them, as well as how to identify new revenue streams.
“The Anticipatory Organization®: Accounting and Finance Edition” shows CPAs and finance executives how to become future-ready at a time when anticipatory skills are in greater demand than ever before. In a recent national survey, 76 percent of small business owners say their CPAs are not proactive, and 75 percent have changed firms because their CPAs are providing reactive services rather than proactive advice. Another recent survey found that only 6 percent of CFOs, controllers, and management accountants say they are future-ready.
In fact, futurist and New York Times best-selling author Daniel Burrus, who developed The Anticipatory Organization® Model and Learning System, says the ability to accurately predict future trends and game-changing opportunities is the greatest missing competency in the business world today.
“Instead of trying to meet your customers’ traditional expectations, you can create higher value by predicting their biggest future problems and helping solve them,” said Burrus. “To create the best products and provide the best services, a company must correctly gauge what trends, environments, and situations will address their customers’ current and future unmet needs. With The Anticipatory Organization® Model, accounting firms have discovered how to rise above the competition by predicting what their clients will need before they need it—and then providing them with a solution at just the right time.”
“Are you changing as fast as your clients are changing? Are you learning as fast as your clients are learning? If not, you will become less relevant every year,” says Burrus. The status quo of reporting as historians or simply reacting to change will only lead to the commoditization of a firm’s services, skills, and knowledge.
“The financial services business is undergoing fundamental change", said Christopher Allegretti, CPA, Managing Principal and CEO of HBK. "We are being digitally disrupted. In order to remain competitive, to stay relevant, even to survive in this age of exponential change, HBK must adopt an anticipatory mindset, a ‘future view’ based on the hard trends we see shaping our future and use those insights to help our clients capitalize on the opportunities that accompany digital disruption. Learning to anticipate and adjust to this new age in financial services is significantly changing the way our team members think, allowing us to be future-ready, ensuring we will be even more relevant as trusted advisors to our clients."
Here’s how it works
The Anticipatory Organization Learning System teaches accounting and finance professionals to actively anticipate disruptions, problems, and their related opportunities, and take action to shape the future by becoming an “Anticipatory CPA.” By learning how to identify and take action on fully predictable “hard trends” (trends that will happen) and more easily manipulated “soft trends” (trends that might happen), we can elevate our relevancy in a world of transformational change.
The 28 lessons in the learning series include the following competencies:
● Strategic thinking
● External awareness
● Vision
● Continuous learning
● Innovation
● Creativity
● Problem-solving
● Prioritization
● Business acumen
● Decisiveness
● Influencing/persuading
● Emotional intelligence
● Consensus building
● Collaboration
● Inspiration
● Risk management
Burrus has been helping stakeholders see and shape the future for more than 30 years. The Anticipatory Organization®: Accounting and Finance Edition synthesizes this approach into an “accelerated learning system” that includes a series of short, single-concept videos featuring Burrus that present the model’s core principles. Each video is followed by rapid-application activities that teach the learner to apply the concept to everyday activities.
This exciting new approach to learning has been customized by Burrus with input from a customer co-creation group gathered by the Maryland Association of CPAs and the Business Learning Institute. The group—representing CPAs in small to large firms, CFOs, controllers, young professionals, and other segments across the profession—has worked with the Burrus team to gather accounting- and finance-specific examples that have been built into the learning platform. This transformative learning approach will help CPAs be proactive and anticipatory in less time than traditional professional development programs.
The result is a powerful tool that will help everyone on your team know what’s next, develop opportunities, shape the future of the organization, and accelerate its success.
Get complete details about The Anticipatory Organization: Accounting and Finance Edition by visiting BLIonline.org/The-Anticipatory-Organization.
About HBK CPAs and Consultants
HBK CPAs and Consultants (HBK) Established in 1949, HBK is a multidisciplinary financial services firm, offering the collective intelligence of hundreds of professionals committed to delivering exceptional client service across a wide range of tax, accounting, audit, business advisory, valuation, financial planning, wealth management and support services from 14 offices in Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Jersey, New York and Florida. For details visit http://www.hbkcpa.com.
About Daniel Burrus
Daniel Burrus is considered one of the world’s leading technology forecasters and innovation experts, and is the founder and CEO of Burrus Research, a research and consulting firm that monitors global advancements in technology-driven trends to help clients understand how technological, social, and business forces are converging to create enormous untapped opportunities. He is a strategic advisor to executives from many of the world’s most innovative companies, helping them develop game-changing strategies based on his proven methodologies for capitalizing on technology innovations and their future impact. He is the author of seven books, including The New York Times best-seller Flash Foresight, and his latest bestseller, The Anticipatory Organization.
About the Business Learning Institute
The Business Learning Institute is the leading talent-development organization for CPAs and finance and accounting professionals in the United States. It provides customized, competency-based curricula and a portfolio of “success skills” and technical programs designed for the finance and accounting profession. Founded in 1999 by the Maryland Association of CPAs, the BLI is an innovation and learning center that facilitates the development and sharing of competencies and strategic knowledge required for leadership in today's rapidly changing business environment. For more information, visit http://www.BLIonline.org.
Tom Hood, Business Learning Institute, http://www.blionline.org, +1 (443) 823-7711, [email protected]
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