Nicholas Taleb is back with a new book, ‘Antifragile: Things That Gain From Disorder‘. Okay the book has been on the market for a few years but I am behind in my reading.
Antifragility – What Does not Bankrupt Us Makes Us Stronger
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The CIA and You!
The CIA heuristic stands for Control, Influence, and Affect, guiding individuals to assess what they can manage in their lives. It emphasizes maximizing direct control, wisely influencing situations, and accepting external factors. Applied to child rearing, it highlights shifting dynamics of control and influence. This strategy encourages thoughtful actions for optimal outcomes.
Continue readingPrinciples of Legitimacy
In Malcom Gladwell’s book, ‘David and Goliath’, he refers to the ‘principle of legitimacy’. These principles are the basis (or lack thereof) for why one group will allow themselves to be subject to another.
The principles stress that it is the behaviour of the leaders that determines whether or not the followers will follow. At least, the principles indicate whether the followers see the leaders as being legitimate [1].
Walter Gadsden, 17, was attacked by police dogs on May 3, 1963, during civil rights demonstrations in Birmingham, Ala. (Bill Hudson/Associated Press) , courtesy of http://www.boston.com [3]
The three principles of legitimacy
- those being ruled need to feel that they have a voice in the arrangement (e.g. no taxation without representation)
- the rules must be predictable and consistent (e.g. rule of law and due process)
- the rules must be consistently applied and appear to be fair to all being asked to follow the rules (e.g. equality before the law)
Kindergartens, Northern Ireland and the Jim Crow Laws
The writing brilliance of Gladwell is that he introduces this concept first in a kindergarten and then applies it to broader contexts such as Northern Ireland or the segregation laws of American South pre-1960. In these examples, Gladwell extends the theme of his book in which an advantage may in fact be a disadvantage.
For example, the British Army in Northern Ireland had the men and material to temporarily impose control over the local population but not to sustain it because they failed to establish legitimacy amongst both the protestant and catholic populations.
Strong armed tactics doomed the British Army to decades of occupation and directly or indirectly resulted in the death of hundreds if not thousands of combatants and civilians. The principles of legitimacy are not without their consequences.
Too much or too little legitimacy?
Gladwell does not have the space in his book to discuss is how much or how little of each are needed based on varying circumstances. There are circumstances where one of the three is reduced to nearly zero (try asking for a voice in the arrangement during the first week of army boot camp).
Alternatively, is there such a thing as too much of these principles? Do they break down when taken to the extreme? Have you ever been ‘surveyed’ to death by an employer asking about your degree of motivation or engagement with the company?
How about rules being applied too consistently such that the application actually erodes the legitimacy. A ten-year old child who is expelled from school because they made an imaginary gun out of their fingers is an example of a zero tolerance policy gone horribly wrong [2].
Leadership (and Life) is Hard
The take away from Gladwell’s book is that these three principles of legitimacy are just that – principles. They are not hard and fast rules and leadership is in their application rather than their memorization.
Here are some of my thoughts on considerations before over-applying one of the three principles of legitimacy:
- A voice in the arrangement:
- Ultimate accountability cannot be delegated away however.
- For trekkies, Captain Picard solicited his crew’s opinion but he still made the decision.
- Alternatively, calling for a vote and a study group when the captain orders everyone into life rafts is ill-advised.
- Coercion can compensate for a voice in the arrangement, but only within short time periods or overwhelming force.
- The soldier in the boot camp knows that his time is short and the ultimate value of the camp’s training outweighs the immediate discomfort.
- Conversely, segregation worked not only because of the power of the whites in the South but also a lack of an united front amongst the blacks (see [2] for the back story behind a famous civil rights photo).
- A voice does not equal gaming the system.
- The squeaky wheel gets the grease but it also violates the other two rules of fairness and consistency.
- Ultimate accountability cannot be delegated away however.
- Predictable and consistent and 3. Consistently applied and appear to be fair to all being asked to follow the rules
- To be predictable and consistent, a system needs to quickly and fairly establish two things: 1) how to change the rules and 2) how to allow for exceptions while disallowing unfair advantage.
- Having a voice in the exceptions is critical.
- Think about a handicap parking spot.
- We allow society (the leaders) to dictate that we give up the best parking spot because as a society we have had a voice (directly or indirectly) that this is a legitimate use of power.
- At the same time though if choice spots were given out based on political affiliation or personal relations, the majority of the voices would be against the privilege.
- The sense of fairness is culturally biased.
- In traditional Islamic families, the opinion of the father or grandfather is nearly law.
- It may seen fair to deny a girl a right to an education or marry a non-Muslim in this context. In the secular West, these would seem patently unfair and sexist.
Lessons for the business reader
For business leaders, is there anything new here? Yes and No. Societies with the greatest longevity have adhered to these principles. These principles are also the hallmark of good leadership and good governance.
If you want to build an enduring organization that will outlast you remember that those being led:
- Seek both a voice in the decision but also expect leadership when leadership is needed.
- Expect rules to be fair, predictable and consistent but not at the expense of common sense.
- Know that part of leadership is in recognizing and explaining the exceptions without the system falling victim to being gamed or exploited.
Leadership is still hard but authors such as Malcom Gladwell can help us to challenge our assumptions and become better, more legitimate, leaders.
Notes, Comments & Further Reading
- p. 207: “When people in authority want the rest of us to behave, it matters – first and foremost – how they behave.
- Milford 5th-grader suspended for pointing imaginary gun, as reported Nov 19, 2014,
- Gladwell devotes nearly a full chapter to the back story behind this picture which was a turning point for the American Civil Rights movement in 1963.
- However, there more in the photo than meets the eye: p. 192: “The boy in Bill Hudson’s famous photograph is Walter Gadsden. He was a sophomore at Parker High in Birmingham, six foot tall and fifteen years old. He wasn’t a marcher. He was a spectator. He came from a conservative black family that owned tow newspapers in Birmingham and Atlanta that had been sharply critical of (Martin Luther) King.”
- Implicit in the above discussion is the role of trust as a human bond within organizations. The following are some other thoughts on this and related matters:
The Missing Link of User Interface
I have resisted getting an eReader but last spring I splurged and bought a Kobo. The result, I found it a little bit clunky to get it work but generally I like it. In particular I like the ability to change font size given that I am now on the wrong side of fifty years old.
Prior to mid-July of this year, I had read about a half dozen books on the Kobo most from my local library. Getting a book from the library to the Kobo has become somewhat routine and I had it down to about a 3 minute effort.
Recently though, something went wrong. I suspect that I updated something or made some seemingly innoculous change that cost me about 15 hours of my life. I won’t go into all of the details but after loading a book from library a dozen different times in a half dozen different ways, there would either be no book transferred or the book would open with the message that I did not have the correct digital authorization. In the end I reset the Kobo to factory settings, re-installed Adobe Digital Editions, flipped a number of switches and presto, I am back to reading on the Kobo!
What was most frustrating about the experience was that each of the three parties in the transaction indicated that, from their perspective, everything was A-O-KAY. That is, the book download perfectly from the library. It opened perfectly in Adobe Digital Editions and transferred successfully to the Kobo. The Kobo gave no indication of trouble -until the moment I tried to actually open the book – when the digital rights error message would come up. I get that digital rights are important and I am a law abiding citizen who followed the letter and spirit of the law completely. I also was less angst as it was a ‘free’ loan from a library, but still – not being able to use something I had legitimate access to was galling.
In the end, I would suggest that the engineers who designed the Kobo and Adobe Digital Editions failed to fully consider the user experience. Generally both work okay but the above technical problem could have been avoided and my fifeteen hours of effort saved in there was a simply little protocol like this:
- Adobe Digital Editions (ADE): ADE transferring a file to Kobo, transfer started
- ADE: Transfer Finished
- Kobo: Transfer received, hold on a moment though, let me try to open the file…
- Kobo: Oops, looks like the file cannot open, I don’t have the digital rights to the file
- ADE: Let me tell the user about the problem and suggest actions to correct.
- Kobo: Sounds good, in the meantime I will check from my end to see if the digital rights version I have is the same as the one you are transferring to me
- ADE: Hey user, looks like you need to update some stuff, do you want me and the Kobo to go ahead and do it?
- User: [presses OK]
- Kobo: that did it, I can open the file
- ADE: great, I will the user know he can start reading.
ADE’s job is to not transfer a file, it is to transfer a file that can be READ with the correction permissions. Kobo’s job is not to receive a file, it is to receive a file that can be READ.
So, dear Kobo and Adobe, if you are listening, can you please implement the above bit of pseudo code in your next update? I really want to get on reading the next book on my ereader, not trouble shooting for 15 hours!
Making Organizing Your Next Event a Non-Event
Most people have had to organize at least one large event in their lives. For example, are you married and how did that go? If children have come along you may find yourself organizing hockey tournaments, soccer awards nights or scout camps. Even if kids are not in the picture, at work you may be tagged to run the company picnic or a United Way fund-raiser.
Continue readingStrategic Planning: How Not to Waste Your Time
Strategic planning can be more effective by focusing on three principles: first, prioritize the planning process over the final document; second, timely execution is crucial, as plans quickly become outdated; third, concise plans of four pages promote clarity and strategic thinking. These methods aim to enhance organizational responsiveness and focus.
Continue readingA (Step-By-)Step Father How To Guide
Now that another Fathers’ Day has come and gone, I got a nudge from myself to blog about being a step parent. I have been a step father to two great sons for almost 30 years. This blog is not to say being a step parent was easy or to provide a twelve-step program to success (pun sort of intended). Instead, this is a father’s day pause to reflect on the challenges and joys of step-parenthood. Also, in case I fall into a time vortex, what I would do the same or differently.
Great-Grand-Father’s Tale of the Revolution—A Portrait of Reverend Zachariah Greene. Metropolitant Museum of Art (detail), Accession Number: 1984.192
On that note, yup, I would do it all over again. The things that I would change are all about me being a better role model and parent to the boys and not about them. They are/were good kids and they did not choose to go from having a just a single mom to having a step dad. This point leads me to my first lesson as a step father, you married the kids mom – you did not marry the kids; they were just part of the package.
However, they are still children. When in doubt about your responsibility as a parent, remember this simple rule: adults are responsible for giving children the right sort of memories. Some of those memories will involve having enough food to eat and a warm bed to sleep in. It goes without saying that those memories do not include abuse or neglect (the likes of Hansel and Gretel notwithstanding). As for the operative word, the ‘right’ memories; they don’t all have to be happy memories. Some of the most important memories will involve a ‘bad choice well explained’ after the fact. Ideally though, your step children’s good memories will outweigh the bad from the moment you enter their lives.
In this case the operative word is ‘enter’. Your spouse and their children had a life before you came along. It may have been brief or you may find yourself with grown step children. No matter the point of entry, remember this: “you will never be part of that portion of their life”. Don’t begrudge, belittle or betray it. Instead, listen, smile and honour it. One of my reflections is that in my desire to establish my own family I had forgotten that these people had one before I showed up. Until you establish your own traditions and stories, for a long time you may be seen as an interloper to their family. Guess what, you are an interloper; get over it and start to build those good memories.
Despite years of effort, credit for your contributions to the newly formed family may not be forthcoming. Your response should be, ‘so what’. Biological parenthood can take as little as a brief moment of passion. Step parenthood, like good parenthood, takes a life time of ongoing choice and commitment. Stick with it, you may be surprised with a thank you that seemingly comes out of the blue (even if it was itself years in the making). Beside, even if you don’t get a thank you, eventually the kids will graduate school and move out… and then life starts to get really weird!
Hypothetically speaking, someday you may find your self at a step-grandchild’s birthday party with your wife, stepson and step-daughter-in-law. Also at the party is your wife’s ex-husband and perhaps maybe a few other subsequent-ex-wives. Throw in a mixed family on your side and you may need to graph some of the relationships of child having the birthday. As for the kids themselves, they are cool with it. More presents and people to love them is what a mixed on mixed on mixed world means. And that means you need to be cool with it because it is not about you, it is about modeling the behaviour of an adult who loves and supports unconditionally. These will be memories that you can give your step-grand children (and to your own children, and their half brothers and your step daughter-in-law and…. etc.).
FMI – eJournal Next Steps and Its Evolution
Some thoughts on how the FMI eJournal could be position in Canada as a premium vehicle for both public sector and accounting thought leadership.
Continue readingFMI – 2015-16 Program Thoughts
As the Director of Programming for the Edmonton chapter of the Financial Management Institute, I get the chance to bring great topics to our members. Our Chapter’s focus is on programming of interest for our members who are public servants in the greater metro-Edmonton area. On March 12, the board is conducting its planning session for the 2015-16 program year. This is your chance to contribute to the planning process without having to attend a board meeting (although if you want to volunteer…).
Leave a comment on this page with your idea. A title is welcome but if you have a paragraph or two to add even better. The items below list the potential topics of interest. The sequence of events will be as follows:
- Identify great programming ideas. An idea is composed of a title, a short description (e.g. a paragraph) and any other details such as potential partners.
- Identify programming venues. Currently we focus on breakfast meetings but that is practice rather than the rule.
- Hold the March 12 meeting planning meeting.
- Update the future events page on the fmi.ca website.
- Execute! This includes identifying an event project manager and start the planning process.
Our current ideas are as follows and are listed in no particular order, tentative sessions are just that, tentative.
Fraud awareness in the Public Sector (September 23, 2015), Scheduled
Internal controls are central to the fiduciary responsibilities of financial professionals and financial managers in the public service. How good are your controls, is passing an audit enough and can you have too much control? These are the questions that a panel of experts will discuss including examples from the real world of auditing.
Status of Capital Projects in Alberta and in Particular the metro-Edmonton Area, Votes: 16 – Scheduled for November 2015.
(Suggested by George W) What are the major capital projects being built in Alberta and what is the role of either by either public or private interests in their development? This session will look at a state of the projects and how public servants can assist and support capita project based economic growth. Also discussed will be the challenges of maintenance after completion, what are the options for keeping the lights on after the ribbon has been cut.
The Art of Influencing Others, Votes 16 – Schedule for January 2016
(Suggested by Neil P) In 1936, Dale Carnegie wrote ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People’. 80 years later, the nature of business may have changed dramatically, and continues to change… yet the basic principles of human interaction and workplace communication have, in essence, remained the same. Given the changes in today’s world and business environment, the humanity of his teachings are more crucial now than ever before, and the ability to win friends and influence people in business is an increasingly important skill. This seminar will teach you how to manage people and give you the crucial foundational skills to shift from being an individual contributor to a well-respected manager who can achieve team success.
Foster Innovation in the Public Service When Money is Tight, Votes: 15 – Scheduled for May 2016
(Suggested by Sue K) Public servants are expected to be innovative while working in a risk averse environment. This inherent conundrum is compounded during times of fiscal restraint when ideas are solicited but resources to execute few. This session will investigate innovation in the public services from a number of facets. Firstly, what is innovation, how do you get it, how do you keep it and when should you ignore it? Next, how to propose, implement and sustain an innovative idea or culture in an environment that is less than ideal. Finally, thoughts and strategies of making the case during times of fiscal restraint, after all, never let a good crisis go to waste!
How to Run Effective Meeting, Votes:13
(Suggested by Neil P) Public servants and financial managers spend a good portion of their working day in meetings. But what is the result from this time spent? This session will help you be more effective through both other standing the psychology and practical skills. Including in this section is how ‘Roberts Rules of Order’ can help you be more productive in a meeting without sacrificing innovation or open communication.
Public Service and Its Unions, Votes 10
One pervasive constant in the public service is the existence of unions across all levels of government. This session will consider the benefits to the members, citizens and taxpayers unions play and what are the corresponding costs or inefficiencies they introduce.
Surviving the Dreaded Re-Organization, Votes:10
(Suggested and contributed by Rene M and Darci S) Ministry re-organizations and municipal re-engineering have been with public servants since the initial governments. Why do re-organizations occur in the first place from the political level, who has mastered the art of surviving and what can a public servant take away from or contribute to the re-organization? Beyond the structural changes, what are the specific challenges in changes in leadership and the loss of corporate knowledge at the executive level. What are the impacts to managers, non-managers with a specific focus on the role of the finance person in the reorganization.
Healthcare, Finance and Your Tax Dollars, Votes: 9
An exploration of the healthcare expenditures made within the province and nationally. How can this expenditure can be maintained, what is the impact on government revenues (at all levels) and how will it be affected by the aging of the Baby-Boomers. A panel discussion will occur.
How Government Works, a Ground Up Review, Votes: 7
Canada has 3 levels of government, federal, provincial/territorial and municipal/aboriginal. How do these government levels work, what are the similarities, differences and nuances for each? What should a financial manager or public servant know about these similarities or differences? This event will include presentations from past and present sitting politicians and a tour of the Alberta Legislature.
Public Sector Budget, Part II: Do Results/Performance Based Budgets really perform (or deliver results), Votes: 6
(Contributed to by Nobey) Known by many names and methodologies (Results Based, Zero Based, etc.), a performance based budget strives to link inputs (financial and other resources) with the outputs and intended outcomes.
In theory, a perfect model for allocating the scarce resources available to a public service. In practice though, what have been their successes and challenges?
These are the perspectives and challenges FMI will explore in this engaging panel discussion and presentation formatted conference. Of interest to all who hold, manage or rely on public-budgets.
Governments, Disaster Response and the 2013 Floods – Two Years Later, Votes:6
In June 2013, the first ever province wide state of emergency was declared. One of the most destructive natural disasters occurred in which large portions of Southern Alberta was under water. Looking back two years, what are the lessons learned for all levels of government in emergency response. How can the Public Service be both agile and maintain the fiduciary responsibilities expected of it. In addition to the 2013 Southern Alberta Floods, lessons from the SARS epidemic, Slave Lake Fire and Forest Fires will be considered. This session will be of interest to any public servant interested in planning for the unexpected.
Procurement, Who Is Doing Better?, Votes: 5
(Suggested and contributed to by BTH and Bageshri V) In February 2015 the FMI asked the question, Procurement who does it well? At this session we will return to procurement but with a larger supply chain focus and ask who is doing procurement even better? Included in this session will be a return to the Government of Alberta’s Contract Review Committees – xx years after their inception.
SharePoint More Than File Storage, Votes: 3
(Suggested by Dianne L) The Microsoft collaboration tool SharePoint has become the new standard in offices. Unfortunately for many organizations, it quickly becomes simply another network drive – and not a particularly good one at that. In this session you will learn 5 things that you may not have known SharePoint could do: 1. Be your go-to Desk Reference/Procedure resource; 2. De-clutter the infamous network drive; 3) Become a budget system – without (almost) using Excel; 4) Store emails and declutter your inbox; 5) Used as a ministry/department priority tracking system.
Time Management, Votes: 3
Time and attention has become the new precious commodity for busy professionals. Email, smart phones and pervasive technologies nibble away at the twenty-four hours allocated each day to deal with business, family and personal priorities. What are the philosophies, techniques and methods to make the best use of those twenty-four hours?
Public Sector Budget, Part I: Who Loves their Budget System, Votes: 3
Budgets are central to a public service organization. In many ways they are as important or perhaps more important than even the financial statements. This is particularly so in organizations using the Westminster model of budget approval (e.g. the provincial or federal governments).
Given their importance, who does budgeting well? Who has clients that love the system and who can produce reliable and forecasts quickly? This session will explore these questions and opportunities from four lens, the system, municipal, provincial and federal perspectives.
Operational, Strategic, Business, Risk and Other Planning, Votes: 3
(Suggested by John K) Public servants and in particular financial managers are asked to lead, contribute to, evaluate and then manage to a variety of plans. But what exactly does the organization when they want a strategic/operational/business or risk plan? What are the common elements in these documents? More importantly, how can public servants prepare credible, useful and enduring plans from that ever so-edge of the side of their desk? This session will provide definitions, tips, tricks, guidance and most important, clues how to plans that spend as little time on the shelf as possible.
Who Loves their ERP and ERM?, Votes: 3
(Suggested and contributed to: Chris M and Darwin B) It is a truism that systems are the new bricks and mortars for organizations. Unfortunately with this importance comes the risk when they are not well designed, implemented, run, managed or governed. This session will look at the last two challenges in the context of two systems – how best to manage and govern an organization’s Enterprise Resource/Risk Management systems? This will include topics such as – what should be the vision for these systems, who should be the governors, the managers, the users with the voice and to integrated the disenfranchised users? As well, best practices/examples will be discussed from both local metro-Edmonton and from further afield.
Have Designation – Will Travel, Vote: 2
PSAB, IFRS and IPSAS means that accountants are increasingly less tied to specific industry, employer or even country. What are the risks, rewards and opportunities for a professional accountant to take a secondment or leave to parts unknown? What is the value proposition to the home and receiving organization? How should family, career and community factor into this decision?
Public Service Renewal – Three Years Later, Votes: 2
On November 1, 2012, IPAC-Edmonton and FMI held a joint conference to hear about initiatives to renew the public sector from its senior leaders. The panelists included Simon Farbrother (City Manager, City of Edmonton), Peter Watson (Deputy Minister of Executive Council, Government of Alberta), and Jim Saunderson (Chief Financial Officer – Western Economic Diversification, Government of Canada).
Three years on, what has changed and is renewal still a priority for governments? What are the specific risks for the provision of financial, accounting or economic services? This conference will revisit 2012 and look forward another three years in the context of public sector renewal.
Standards, Standards and More Standards, Votes: 0
(Suggest by John K) for accountants working in non-traditional finance areas, it is easy to get rusty on the standards that underpin our work. This refresher will provide a whirlwind tour for the financial manager on the accounting standards in force and that influence the public service. This will include the legacy Canadian CICA, International Accounting Standards (IAS), International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), Canadian Public Sector Accounting Board (PSAB), International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS).
The 360 Review and Benefits of Self-Knowledge, Votes: 0
(Suggested by John K) Many organizations employ 360 reviews to help employees better understand themselves through how others perceive them. During this session, the 360 review will be explained (including its strengths, shortcomings, costs, etc.) and how you can collect feedback informally about yourself through less formal means.
Policies, Procedures, Legislation, Regulations and Directives, Votes: 0
(Suggested by Carey M) Accountability and oversight comes in many forms. What organizations have mastered the subtle art of enough control that does not destroy innovation in its ranks. This session will look at that delicate balance including special focuses on the federal and provincial treasury boards and municipal equivalents.
One Town – Many Governments, Votes: 0
(Suggested by Ron M) Edmonton is a government town. What may surprise you though is exactly how much government is going on in our area code. Within a hundred kilometres of the legislature dome there are xx independent government levels and organizations. This includes the federal, provincial, municipal, first nations, crown organizations (agencies, boards and commissions) – and don’t forget the universities, schools, Alberta Health Services and other full and partially arms length entities. How well does these entities cooperate with each other at a political, executive, financial management (yeah FMI!) and professional level. What can be done to improve this cooperation and is there a dark side to knowing your neighbours a bit too well?
Critical Thinking and the Financial Professional, Votes: 0
(Suggested by Lucia S) How well do you perform when it comes to critical thinking and analysis and how well do you communicate the results? This session will explore the dark arts of critical thinking and combine it with how to present and communicate such analysis in a simple and effective manner to executives and to the political level.
Mission Possible: Building Better Teams?, Votes: 0
(Suggested by Sandra V) Teams or at least work units are the basis for most organizational structures. How can financial managers build better teams and how can financial professionals and public servants be better followers and contributors to a team? More importantly, how to balance the success of the team with individual performance management and promotion. This session will explore these issues and concepts.
Accounting for and Managing Assets in Government, Votes: 0
How well does your organization manage the asset life cycle? How is that asset verification thing working out for you? Are your organization policies, procedures and technology current or are they getting a bit stale? Finally, do you understand the accounting standards relative to tangible, intangible, component-ization or work in progress accounting? This session will examine the asset life cycle, who is doing it well, the standards and what could be done better.
Building Teams When Times are Tough, Votes: 0
(Suggested by Xin N) Individuals are appraised by teams produced! However, how do you build effective teams, resolve conflict and create a healthy work place when the demands on the individual public servant have become greater than ever? This session will provided you with practical skills in team building and work relationships so as to keep your individual sanity and your team effectiveness.
The Art of Performance Measurement, Management and Avoiding Unintended Consequences, Votes: 0
An old saw goes, ‘What gets measured gets done’. However in dueling quotes, Albert Einstein said: “Everything that can be counted does not necessarily count; everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted’. Thus the challenge of performance measurement in the public service. What are the acknowledged performance measurements for government organizations, how can the costs to collect these measures be reduced while improving their accuracy, finally, what is the role of the financial professional to managing measurements (both financial and non-financials).
Transfer Pricing and Internal Costing of Goods and Services, Votes: 0
Full costing of government is a challenge. Central services (finance, human resources, IT, etc.) are often seen as a ‘free-good’. Nevertheless, stakeholders (taxpayers, citizens, politicians) want to know the cost of delivering a project, program or service. Twenty years ago, activity based costing, budgeting and management was one method to accomplish transfer pricing – since then the accounting world has become largely silent for these techniques. This session will discuss the value and purpose transfer pricing, the existing accounting standards and success (and not so success) stories.
Information Management and Government Decision Making, Votes: 0
A central role of financial managers and public servants is to ‘speak truth to power’; however truth needs to be based on good information and evidence. What are the sources of information that can be used to make good decisions? How do public servants manage information that is growing faster than the ability to assimilate let alone understand it. This session will allow the public servants to understand what is information, how can it be managed, how it can be used for decision-making and how is this a good career tool.
Cost Accounting in the Public Service, Votes: 0
Activity Based Costing (ABC) and Budgeting (ABB) have seen their fortunes rise and fall over the past few decades. The Alberta Government has passed the Results Based Budgeting (RBB) Act which seeks to systematically review all government programs and services from an output and outcome perspective. This session will discuss the role cost accounting/budgeting plays in this new world at all levels of government. What are the human, system and cultural changes needed to make RBB, ABC, ABB or any other similar resource allocation process successful?
SharePoint Wikis as a Desk Reference Tool – How-To Pages
This is the second in a good intentioned series of blogs detailing my experiences and uses of the tool. The first blog, SharePoint 101, provided some context and a ‘fictional use-case’ which the following blog is based on.
Continue reading
Organizational Biology 