At the QuickBooks Connect conference in San Jose, California this past October, I “shared the stage” with other celebrity presenters – among them Michael Phelps, Shaquille O’Neal, and Malcolm Gladwell – who took to the stage to share some of their great experience and for those of us in attendance to absorb some wisdom.
Michael Phelps spoke about the competitive advantages of swimming on Sundays in preparation and training towards his Olympic medal accomplishments. By jumping to the swimming pool instead of taking a day off on Sundays, he had 52 days a year more of training than his competitors. That small (but large) advantage had a lot to do with Michael becoming the most decorated Olympian in history.
Shaquille O’Neal spoke about surrounding yourself with great players. In many disciplines, being a standout on your own can take you only so far. Making others great in the process gives a greater chance of success. In essence, Shaq did not win his championships because of his greatness – his team won because of the greatness of the people surrounding him.
Malcolm Gladwell spoke about the failures that most endure prior to the successes, and how the failures go under the radar. He spoke about how effort is more important than talent, a lesson we can learn from the 60’s rock band Fleetwood Mac. We have a tendency to think that people who master something get there overnight. In the case of Fleetwood Mac, the band’s success was a long process, one that involved fifteen albums prior to their first breakthrough work. According to Gladwell, almost every successful endeavor takes at least 10,000 hours of practice, which works out to about eight hours a day for five years (or four hours a day for ten years). This effort is more crucial to success than talent itself. [I wrote about this very topic in a previous article: http://www.mendelsonconsulting.com/seven-days-towards-five-years-why-hire-an-expert] Gladwell expounding on this, weaving through other examples, from classical musicians who practice long hours to less-regarded NFL quarterbacks performing better than their highly-drafted counterparts.
Others invited to QuickBooks Connect included fitness expert and author Jillian Michaels, professional skateboarder and entrepreneur Tony Hawk, and designer Christian Siriano. The three shared the stage detailing the importance of good accounting. Each told their story of how their accountants are their trusted advisors. Jillian even spoke about how her accountant set her up on QuickBooks Online and now she pays her own bills using QBO!
I had the fortune to be invited as a facilitator at this same event, the world’s largest QuickBooks conference. My session “Inventory Beyond the Desktop” was the first time that the topic of QuickBooks Online inventory was featured at a QuickBooks consultants event. It was extremely well-received, with “standing room only” left.
I am excited to announce that we are bringing this course to our Advanced Continuing Education lineup at Mendelson Academy! I created this new session because companies that need inventory tracking want to take advantage of cloud applications. This course defines the cloud software options for clients that need inventory. We review what is available in QuickBooks and break down what can be done within QuickBooks Online and when add-ons are needed.
This new course identifies common and advanced inventory concepts, participants learn how to choose the proper cloud solution based on functional and operational needs, and gain insight into what to watch for when converting QuickBooks Desktop to QuickBooks Online.
Check our course schedule for dates and times: www.mendelsonacademy.com
…MARIO
