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The title of this post is borrowed intentionally. Years ago, I read Hope Is Not a Method: What Business Leaders Can Learn from America’s Army by General Gordon R. Sullivan (with Michael V. Harper). I found the idea compelling. When colleagues—and especially direct reports—would start in with “I hope…”, I would hand out the book.…
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We were in the middle of replacing an enterprise-wide application. As expected, requirements gathering was uneven. Some departments came prepared—with workflows, documentation, and a clear understanding of how their function operated within the broader system. Others arrived with little more than fragments. That imbalance slowed everything: scoping stalled, dependencies remained unclear, and constructing a credible…
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A recent Wall Street Journal article argued that workers worried about AI taking their jobs may be missing an even bigger danger — cue the escalation that sells headlines — AI systems absorbing institutional knowledge and shifting control away from individuals. The fear is real. Surveys show it across industries. Not just routine workers. Knowledge…
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Bear with me a minute on a personal reflection — I promise I’ll get to the financial foundation. We were cleaning out old storage bins and came across a very old photo album in what was left of my mom’s last bit of memorabilia. A carefully curated album of old black-and-white photos. What do you…
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How do you measure the performance of your finance team? Time to close the books? Forecast accuracy? DSO? Working capital turns? All reasonable. Now imagine this KPI presented at your next board meeting: “We evaluated Finance based on the number of journal entries posted this month.” It sounds absurd. In fact, you might argue the…
Financial Foundations with Jim Curham 