The decision

This project has been dormant for a little bit. I've been grappling with the decision of whether to pursue my own MBA or attend a program. To spend my time on these posts or allocate that time to studying for the GMAT.

Which would I rather be doing? Writing here and learning. Which is more fun? This. Is an education supposed to be fun? Maybe.

This will never result in a promotion. It will never result in recognition (which we all crave, some more than others).

It doesn't have the same branding as Harvard or Columbia.

But, this is my idea, my contribution, made real.

I could do both. Attend an MBA while still blogging. But would I really be committed to forging my own path? I think not. It'd be a farce.

It'd be me doing what's expected of me while rationalizing that I was doing something of my own.

So, I am going to give this a trial run. Truly committed. Up to this point it has felt half-hearted. 2 Months. And if I enjoy it, I will continue. If not, I will discontinue.

Can't I learn more by taking the initiative and pursuing my own goals.

Performance measures

From traders too focused on quarterly earnings to bosses too focused on annual reviews, we're induced into sacrificing any long-term potential for short-term rewards.

In Buffet's 2010 letter to shareholders, the first seven or so pages are ripe with insights into performance measures and how the long-term potential always takes precedence.

The short-term should be treated as small steps towards a larger goal. Things won't materialize over night. The worthwhile goals and businesses take time and rigorous pursuit.

Interesting vs. Convention

Convention isn't interesting because we know what to expect.

The unconventional pulls us in because we haven't encountered it before. We're fascinated with a a new view or something completely turns something we take for granted on its head. We can't help but be interested.

So is an unconventional education more interesting? Do we get more out of it? This guy thinks so.

Making something from nothing

Perhaps this is the most valuable skill that can be learned.

When you're starting something (this blog), and all you have in terms of capital and backing is yourself and an idea, buzzwords won't get people to buy in or even a good idea. It's has to be great.

So how do you get people to buy into your ideas and support you with what you need?

Trees vs. a Forest

I've tried to start several blog series delving into various areas of business in an attempt to learn more. But, eventually they just bored me. So, perhaps it's time to re-evaluate that approach.

If I just regurgitate business information, then where is the value? It's time to take a new approach.

One thing about business that intimidates me is understanding finance. Heck, I am an accountant and most of the concepts make my head spin. In the world of finance, it seems like everyone knows more than you. Someone has the edge with the latest information or a reason to buy this stock or sell that one, all with the aim of attaining that short-term profit, unable to focus and see what lies beyond the their short-sighted gaze.

However, we can choose to focus on the long-term where all the present up's and down's of the short-term smooth towards one upward trend of unlimited potential.

So in that spirit we're starting the next course: A Buffet of Warren Buffet's Letters to Shareholders' of Berkshire Hathaway. There's a twist--We'll start with the most recent and work backwards and hopefully use hindsight to our advantage.

The Power of Words: If vs. When

This morning at the gym Bloomberg TV was on while I was pounding away on the treadmill. I realized one thing: the media sure does love to deify certain high profile business people (Jobs, Gates, etc).

But what about the rest of us? Those who do not necessarily run billion-dollar businesses. What does it take for us to acheive that success (success in, and of itself is also a myriad of personal beliefs and goals--let's assume conventional success for simplicity)

Honestly, its hard to see what people at the top and those so young in their careers such as myself may share as a common denominator.

Consequently, I often think in if's. If I were good at this, then.../If I had this skill, then.../If I were more like this person, then...and eventually all those "if's" accumulate into self-defeat.

Perhaps the trick is to stop with "if's"...and focus more on the "when's".

When I get there, I will have done x, y and z to make it.

Accounting is an Accrual Profession

You can't talk about bean without hearing the word accrual. Sorry for the bad pun (couldn't resist).

In accounting, the bean counters try to make information forward-looking and incorporate into the financials all of a company's assets and liabilities.

Often this forward-looking concept is achieved through someone's best guess because they have only past experience or incomplete information. So when you hear the word accrual often the word best guess comes to my mind.

We'll explore this more, but for now, just think accrual = best guess.

An accrual Idea

So accounting is simple--well, or should be simple. Like all things, it is often muddled with overly-complex words and veiled concepts to obscure one thing--the truth. That's another discussion.

But as long as you know the fundamental underpinnings, the rest is just fluff. So what you may ask is that?

Here it is: Accounting helps you know what resources to use in the future (balance sheet), how you've been doing for a certain period of time (income statement), and where all our money has been going/coming from (cash flows).

Simple enough. Let's not be intimidated by all the big words (often a compensating mechanism) and information overload.

We'll explore bean counting and discover it's actually pretty useful (dare I say--cool).

Becoming a Profit

Just need to jot the idea down:

Have you ever wondered how a business moves from costing its owners money to creating value for its owners? Well maybe not, but I have (NERD). So the next installment in the blog series will be Becoming a Profit: The Journey of the Profitable Business.

More to come....