About Frank SAPAA

Webmaster and Board Member of SAPAA and born and raised Albertan. Love exploring Alberta particularly in the winter on snow shoes.

Multi-Factor Success Matrix

Is the system live, is it stable? What are the risk areas of the new system? When will it be working properly? Dreaded questions when managing complex systems. A multi-factor success matrix can help an organization visualize key elements of a system and make informed decisions… or perhaps just answer the question, have we gone live yet?

Reconstruction of the Carnuntum Amphitheatre near Vienna Austria (FPotter)
Reconstruction of the Carnuntum Amphitheatre near Vienna Austria (FPotter)
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Four Assets for Families

Families find themselves in a Financial Literacy program to deal with a money emergency or (preferably) to prevent such an emergency. Ideally, the family learns about better money management – but do they learn what role money should play in their lives?

Model showing four asset blocks that pertain to all individuals as they navigate society. The blocks are Personal, Social, Physical and Financial.
Four Human Block Asset Model (4Human-Block)
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2×2 Goals

What does Albert Einstein [1], a gold medal-winning Olympic Athlete, the lottery, and Afroman’s hit song ‘Because I Got High‘ have in common? They can be mapped to the 2×2 Goal matrix and help financial literacy course participants better understand how to set and attain their goals.

2×2 Goal Setting: Realistic X Effort
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Can We Start Again Please – Here is the Offer…

On September 16, 2021, I will be moderating a Financial Management Institute (FMI) virtual conference: Getting Up to Speed When the Pressure is On. The conference will present six senior Edmonton area leaders [2] who have recently started their new roles. Edmonton Chapter – “Getting Up to Speed When the Pressure is On” | fmi*igf.

A large snail with shell proceeding past a bike tire in the background.
Moving to a new role is always daunting.
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SAMI Financial Literacy Goals

Most people have heard of the marshmallow test. Ask a young child if they want one marshmallow now or two in a short while. The test was designed and originally delivered in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, it showed a correlation between a young child’s ability to delay gratification and their future success [1].

Graphic representation of the SAMI Goals.
SAMI Goals (Small, Attained, Modified and Internalized)
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The Goal is Learning to Set Goals

We all know what a goal is, for example:

  • Saving to go on vacation.
  • Lose 10kg before the next vacation.
  • Not losing any children while on vacation, unlike last time.

The first one is a financial goal, the second is personal and the third involves the police and social welfare. We intuitively know the first two are goals but do we really need to articulate an objective to avoid traumatize Johnny?

Four apostles look to the right of the image carrying their staffs, crosses, books and churches.
Four Apostles from a church near Baden Austria
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Lagom & Literacy

Lagom is a Swedish that roughly translates to ‘Just Right’. It does not mean average, sufficient, moderate or adequate – it means the right amount for the circumstances. It is an expression of comfort and has elements of the concept of “Gemütlichkeit” or coziness.

A scale with five horizontal points. The vertical axis increases on a logarithmic scale starting at one (Level 1) and ending at 10,000 (Level 4).
Lagom – learning – Levels. A logarithmic scale of the level of effort to learn a subject.
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