New Learning System Teaches CPAs To Anticipate Future Trends

The most important competency in the business world today – the ability to anticipate future trends and position our organizations to take advantage of them – is a mystery to some accounting and finance professionals. That’s according to a new system from Daniel Burrus, the Maryland Association of CPAs (MACPA) and the Business Learning Institute (BLI) – and they want to change that.

Burrus, a world-renowned technology forecaster, innovation expert and New York Times best-selling author, has joined forces with the MACPA and the BLI to launch “The Anticipatory Organization™: Accounting and Finance Edition,” a revolutionary new learning system created by Burrus that teaches CPAs how to anticipate future trends and take advantage of the game-changing opportunities those trends offer.

The need for future-focused strategies has never been greater. In a recent national survey, 76 percent of small business owners say their CPAs are not proactive, and 75 percent have changed firms because their CPAs are providing reactive services rather than proactive advice. Another recent survey found that only 6 percent of CFOs, controllers and management accountants say they are future-ready.

The Anticipatory Organization™ Model, created and developed by Burrus and Burrus Research, Inc., has changed how many of the world’s most successful businesses plan their future and accelerate growth.

Now, Burrus is bringing what he calls the greatest missing competency – the ability to anticipate change – to CPAs, CFOs, controllers and management accountants. This model represents a new way of thinking, planning, and acting – a paradigm shift that’s required in a world of accelerating change, competition, and uncertainty.

A JOB-SPECIFIC, COMPETENCY-BASED, ACCELERATED LEARNING SYSTEM

The Anticipatory Organization™ Model teaches accounting and finance professionals to actively anticipate what will happen, identify related opportunities, and take action to shape the future by becoming an “Anticipatory CPA.” By learning how to identify and take action on fully predictable “Hard Trends” (trends that will happen) and more easily manipulated “Soft Trends” (trends that might happen), we can elevate our relevancy in a world of transformational change.

The 28 lessons included in the learning series includes the following competencies:

●    Strategic thinking
●    External awareness
●    Vision
●    Continuous learning
●    Innovation
●    Creativity
●    Problem-solving
●    Prioritization
●    Business acumen
●    Decisiveness
●    Influencing / persuading
●    Emotional intelligence
●    Consensus building
●    Collaboration
●    Inspiration
●    Risk management

Burrus has been helping stakeholders to see and shape the future for more than 30 years. The Anticipatory Organization: Accounting and Finance Edition synthesizes his approach into an “accelerated learning system” that includes a series of short, single-concept videos featuring Burrus that presents the model’s core principles. Each video is followed by rapid-application activities that teach the learner to apply the concept to everyday activities.

This exciting new approach to learning has been customized by Burrus with input from a customer co-creation group gathered by the MACPA and the BLI. The group – representing CPAs in small to large firms, CFOs, controllers, young professionals, and other segments across the profession – has worked with the Burrus team to gather accounting- and finance-specific examples that have been built into the learning platform. This transformative learning approach will help CPAs be proactive and anticipatory in less time than traditional professional development programs.

The result is a powerful tool that will help everyone on your team know what’s next, develop opportunities, shape the future of the organization, and accelerate its success.

Get complete details about The Anticipatory Organization: Accounting and Finance Edition by visiting http://www.BLIonline.org/The-Anticipatory-Organization.