Business has never demanded more from finance and accounting professionals. From technical knowledge to people skills, professionals are facing stiffer challenges every day.

It seems the most daunting challenge of all is change itself, and if change is the constant, then speed is the competitive edge. Or so suggests management consultant, Dan Coughlin, in his new book, Accelerate: 20 Practical Lessons to Boost Business Momentum. “My definition of ‘accelerate’ is to increase the rate of achieving desired outcomes in a sustainable manner,” Coughlin explains in this new manifesto.

We don’t have space here for all of Dan’s “lessons,” but a few are especially suitable for finance managers and accountants:

1. To accelerate effective behaviors, ban eight-page performance reviews covering 28 core competencies.

We can already hear you cheering; everyone hates pointless performance reviews. Most often these reviews seem designed to stop progress rather than promote it. Coughlin suggests boiling down your evaluations to just three questions:

• What do I think this person does that is effective?
• What do I think this person does that is not effective?
• What do I think this person could do to be more effective?

2. To accelerate accountability, reward doers, not talkers.

“Don’t give everyone the same bonus,” Coughlin says. “Money talks,” that is, if you want your evaluations to mean anything, give bonuses and raises that fit performance ratings.

3. To accelerate impact, transform chaos into elegance. No more useless, overstuffed meetings with 20-item agendas that go nowhere. Coughlin’s meeting-management strategy calls for an agenda to be sent out a week before, with only three (yes, three) agenda items, each phrased in the form of a provocative question.

“Select the three highest priority outcomes for your business group, and turn them into open-ended questions,” he says. “When the group walks in, start with the first open-ended question. Gather the best two ideas from each participant, look to combine ideas to make even better ideas, make a decision and develop an action plan. Then move to the next question.”

And, oh yeah, practice common courtesy that isn’t so common: Start and end your meetings on time, and put away the cell phone.

4. To accelerate your talent pipeline, be a talent hound, not a position-filler.

Start with knowing the values, strengths and passions you’re looking for. Values are beliefs that determine behavior; strengths are what a person does well; and, passions are what the person gets excited about doing. Then, search for people who have that specific business talent you need. Realize that sometimes you may find someone you like, but don’t have a position for at that very moment, so file away their name and stay in touch — you may need them some day.

5. To accelerate focus, schedule thinking time.

Thinking seems so easy that we take it for granted. Unfortunately, in this day and age, thinking time must be scheduled. Take out your calendar and schedule one hour a week just to think.

“Make this time sacrosanct,” Coughlin advises. “Get away from your family, your boss, employees, clients and partners. Go to a place where no one knows you. Take out a blank sheet of paper and write one important business objective or issue at the top of the page.”

1. Turn that objective or issue into an open-ended question.
2. Answer that question for 45 minutes from a variety of perspectives.
3. Combine two or more of your answers to make even better answers.
4. Select your best idea.
5. Take the last 15 minutes and build your action plan.

“Clear, quality ideas provide the foundation for business acceleration,” Coughlin says. “In order to find them, you have to schedule time to search for them.”

We think thinking is a great idea. In fact, we’re headed to the hammock right now to get started on the project.

COMMENTS: Rants, raves, idle thoughts, or questions? Contact Rick Telberg .

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