CFO Bookshelf

Cory Doctorow is a science fiction author, technology activist, and journalist. He has written many books, most recently The Bezzle, a follow-up to Red Team Blues, which are the two books we'll discuss in this episode.These two books are the beginning of a series featuring the fictional forensic accountant Martin Hench. Hench is self-employed, loves being on the red team, and rakes in 25% of the assets he can recover.Cory's books are fast-paced and entertaining but also deeply thought-provoking, especially The Bezzle.Cory has authored many books, is a long-time blogger and journalist, and hosts a podcast. You can learn more about him at his website, Craphound.

Alfred Sloan's My Years with General Motors was an immediate success and is considered one of the best management books written by CEOs of his era. Before his book, we'd probably have to go back to Henry Ford's autobiography to find a management book of this popularity.And then there's Harvey Firestone's book, which CFO Bookshelf considers a gem. Originally published in 1926, the great people behind the Farnam Street blog have republished Men and Rubber, and the author's message is as relevant now as when he published it.During this episode, we hit some of the big themes in this book:Money, capital, and planningThe key to selling and no superstarsTreating people right and employee ownershipDeep thinking and decision-makingTaking time off and Ford's vagabonds

Gary Stevenson grew up in an impoverished area of East London where he could hold his life's belongings in two arms. About three years after graduating from the London School of Economics, Citibank made him a millionaire at a very young age.Gary was 'all in' on winning the trading game. But did overnight success bring him happiness? And why did he want to leave the Citibank trading floor?Gary tells his story in his new book, The Trading Game, which I believe is this era's Liar's Poker, but with more life lessons shared in this special book. Some of the topics explored include:The reason why it's challenging to get a job on a trading floorGary's childhood and how it influenced his drive to masteryThe reason poor people are looked down upon by the richGary's first day on the trading floor in 2007Profound thoughts on the mindset of a traderThe P&Ls of traders and how they got paidThe meaning of negative 4.5% interest ratesMoney was never Gary's driverHealth and mental stress in TokyoAdvice for kids wanting to be tradersGary's YouTube channelReturn to the classics

Exploring the connection between Agile, DevOps, TPS, TOC, and Deming's System of Profound Knowledge. Introducing the three layers of work and social circuitry. Discussing Simplification, Slowification, and Amplification. Reflecting on the success story of GM and Toyota's joint venture in Fremont. Emphasizing the importance of coherence and choreography in organizational processes. Exploring the concept of amplification in problem-solving for organizational improvement.

Readers of  Corporate Counsel do not need to be legal professionals to enjoy this short book writen as a business fable.Anna is leaving a prestigious law firm to become the first in-house lawyer at a regional real estate firm in the Midwest. The book includes drama, conflict, and a grey beard, Anna's guide throughout the story.Our guest is the author, Peter Carayiannis, and some of the topics we address include:Anna's first 100 daysThe wrong reason to hire an in-house lawyerThe concept of budgets and #LegalOpsThe Big 3 of risk mitigationDefinitions for ASLP and MLSThe moral authority in a businessA full-scope legal review of all corporate documents

Of all the books written about Warren Buffett, I am unaware of any authors who grew up in Omaha, Nebraska and went to school with his children.Todd Finkle is the author of Warren Buffett: Investor and Entrepreneur, a book that was fourteen years in the making.If you are a Buffett student, perhaps you will have heard several of Todd's stories, but are you aware of Buffett's numerous investing mistakes throughout the years or several of Charlie Munger's thoughts on behavioral investing?In this conversation, we also discussed three of my favorite stories in the book. My favorite is the five-hour conversation between Buffett and Davy Davidson, and Todd does a great job of filling in the details.You can find additional resources to the conversation on the show notes page.

John Rossman is making his second appearance on CFO Bookshelf. We interviewed him two years ago for one of our top 10 books of 2022, The Amazon Way, Amazon's 14 Leadership Principles.John's newest book which he co-authored with Kevin McCaffrey is Big Bet Leadership. Highlights from the conversation include:What is and what is not a big betA topic for low- and high-tech companies, bothBig bets are generally found in Day 1 organizationsSmall teams vs. R&D labsThinking, environment, managementThe power of writingThe portfolio of ideas with limited resourcesThe lightning round - lazy pivot, Chief Repeating Officer, quivers, MLPsJohn's recent favorite booksFull Show Notes

Gary Harpst co-founded the ERP solution Solomon Software, which was ultimately sold to Great Plains. The CFO Bookshelf enjoys Gary's work and past books, including Six Disciplines for Excellence and Six Disciplines Revolution.Gary's newest book has been 40 years in the making. The title is Built to Beat Chaos: Biblical Wisdom for Leading Yourself and Others. A few of the themes we cover in this conversation include:addressing the elephant in the room, the integration of faith in the workplacethe Great Plains storyA leader's first and second responsibilitythe reason Monet destroyed some paintingsthe reason a specific management system doesn't matter based on 1200 businesses studiedhow to get the 85% involved and the impact on one-to-one timethe 100-point exercisethe Harold Morgan storywisdom and tips for learning to mentor othersthe purpose and mission of LeadFirst.ai

A Beautiful Constraint by Morgan and Barden: is it a marketing, branding, psychology, or management book? Or is it all four?In this episode, Willy Donaldson (Simple_Complexity and Estimated Time of Departure) and I discuss five of the biggest ideas in the thought-provoking book A Beautiful Constraint. The authors state the goal is not to eliminate a constraint but to leverage it. Their book explains how.Below are some of the topics we addressed:the definition of a constraintGoldratt's definitionreasons you may not need to read the bookthe relationship between ambition and constraintsthe three-part continuum of thought: victim, neutralizer, transformerpath dependence and an impactful poemcan-if thinkingthe problem with too many resourcesthumbs up or thumbs downDuring the conversation, we mentioned this book would be a great master class where a one-hour conversation could provide all of the ideas and tools created by the authors. If you are not ready to read the book yet, this YouTube video by one of the authors is a great starting point.

Since starting the CFO Bookshelf podcast, I have released a ‘favorite books’ show each January. I’ve always been reluctant to do so because my reading tastes may differ from yours. However, these episodes are some of the most downloaded in our podcast catalog. In this discussion, I list my Top 10 books, honorable mentions, fiction, and even books that I did not like. Other insights include what and how much to read and if fiction matters.Access the List