Episode #436: Second interview with Joe Pine

We first spoke with Joe Pine way back in March of 2015 primarily about his books, The Experience Economy and Infinite Possibility. Our key takeaway from Joe's work is his Economic Value Progression graph which asserts that transformations are the highest level (at least in this world). This insight has become even more important as organizations move to subscription based models. We are looking forward to getting Joe's take and ask him about his recent piece in the Harvard Business Review - The "New You" Business.

A Bit More About Joe Pine…

Co-author of The Experience Economy, Joseph Pine II is an internationally acclaimed author, speaker, and management advisor to Fortune 500 companies and entrepreneurial start-ups alike. In 2020 Mr. Pine and his partner James H. Gilmore re-released in hardcover The Experience Economy: Competing for Customer Time, Attention, and Money featuring an all-new Preview to their best-selling 1999 book The Experience Economy: Work Is Theatre & Every Business a Stage. The book demonstrates how goods and services are no longer enough; what companies must offer today are experiences – memorable events that engage each customer in an inherently personal way. It further shows that in today’s Experience Economy companies now compete against the world for the time, attention, and money of individual customers. The Experience Economy has been published in fifteen languages and was named one of the 100 best business books of all time by 800ceoread (now Porchlight). Mr. Pine also co-wrote Infinite Possibility: Creating Customer Value on the Digital Frontier with Kim Korn, Authenticity: What Consumers Really Want with Mr. Gilmore in 2007, and in 1993 published his first book, the award-winning Mass Customization: The New Frontier in Business Competition. Each book details Mr. Pine’s breakthrough thinking as he has accurately charted many structural shifts — from individualizing goods to today’s focus on customer experiences and many other changes in the economy and consumer sensibility.

Use these show notes to follow along with the audio:

Segment one:

• It is said that economic eras have always been named based on the output. That would explain why we are big fans of Joe Pine’s book, The Experience Economy https://www.amazon.com/Experience-Economy-New-Preface-Authors/dp/1633697975/ 

• Are we moving into the transformation economy? According to Joe, yes. We are transforming through the experiences we have.

• “What transformations do is they change us from the inside out.” —Joe Pine

• If you weren’t paying attention, it’s understandable to have missed the difference between commodification, commoditization, and customization. I can’t do Joe’s words justice in a tweet so listen to him go through it in segment one of our show today

• “Any company that is in the business of making you healthy, wealthy and wise is in the transformation business.” —Joe Pine

Segment two:

• The New Your Business is an article co-written by Joe Pine in Harvard Business Review. If you have not read it yet, please do yourself a big favor and click/tap this link https://hbr.org/2022/01/the-new-you-business 

• Rarely is their one life transforming experience. More often it is a progression…a series of successes.

• The Five Whys method is simple: when a problem occurs, you drill down to its root cause by asking "Why?" five times. Then, when a counter-measure becomes apparent, you follow it through to prevent the issue from recurring.

Segment three:

• Charging for the outcome and NOT the activities is a part of what it means to be in the transformation business.

• The subscription pricing model gets you to the experience level (which is close to transformation). “You are what you charge for.” —Joe Pine

• “Once you start charging for OUTCOMES it changes how you do things.” —Joe Pine

• What is the difference between insurance, assurance, and ensurance? Joe talked through this during segment three of the show today.

Segment four:

• There are 3 phases of transformation as defined in Joe’s book: the up front diagnosis, the design of a set of experiences, and the follow through

• Many of the folks that Ron and Ed work with are used to stacking services. “Designing the offering” is a critical section for you towards the end of Joe’s HBR article. More here: https://hbr.org/2022/01/the-new-you-business 

• “Transformation business models will be much harder to imitate than those that offer only goods, services, or experiences. And they promise to generate a handsome reward.” https://hbr.org/2022/01/the-new-you-business  

• A big THANK YOU to Joe Pine for joining us today. Please check out his books, The Experience Economy and Infinite Possibility as well as his HBR article, The “New You” Business https://hbr.org/2022/01/the-new-you-business 

Bonus Content is Available As Well

Did you know that each week after our live show, Ron and Ed take to the microphone for a bonus show? Typically, this bonus show is an extension of the live show topic (sometimes even with the same guest) and a few other pieces of news, current events, or things that have caught our attention.

Click the “FANATIC” image to learn more about pricing and member benefits. 

Episode #435: Tribute to Dr. Reginald Lee, R.I.P.

Dr. Reginald Lee is survived by his wife and 4 children. One of his children suffers from a rare disease. If Dr. Reginald Lee touched your life, please consider contributing at this GoFundMe link.

It is with heavy hearts that Ed and Ron share the news of Dr. Reginald Lee's passing on March 8, 2023. He was a dear friend, a mentor, a teacher, and a maverick who was fearless in challenging the conventional wisdom of cost accounting. We were privileged to know him and be able to spend time with him. We will also keep his teaching and his legacy alive. Join us to celebrate the life and work of this dear friend, who leaves behind the imperishable crown of a good name. Read more tributes to Reginald at: https://www.hodappfuneralhome.com/obituaries/reginald-lee

A Bit More About Dr. Reginald Lee…

Reginald is survived by his beloved wife Tamara, children Sunny (Sam Rugg), Sophia, Rey, Isabella, Ashton and his grandson, Shepard. He also leaves behind his dear nephews Marcus and Michael Lee and his cherished siblings Marc Lee (Adriana), and Wynnette Lee. He was the son of the late Rudolph and Winifred Lee. Reginald held close the values they instilled in him and his mother remained a beautiful light in his life. Reginald grew up in Dayton, Ohio. He graduated from the University of Dayton with a PhD in mechanical engineering. As an engineer with a passion for business and math, Reginald was a pioneer in debunking the validity of accounting information for managerial purposes. As a replacement, he developed Business Domain Management, a mathematically sound operations and cash business framework. His work has proven valuable in helping leaders see, understand, and manage their operational and cash performance. He was a corporate advisor and founded Business Dynamics & Research using cash-based business models he created. In addition to his ongoing work at BDR, he also taught at Xavier University's Williams College of Business. Previously, he had worked for a number of major global brands including EY, GM, IBM, Oracle and Clark Schaefer. Reginald was also a prolific writer, authoring five books and publishing more than 30 articles in magazines such as APICS, Cincinnati Business Courier, Industrial Management, and Journal of Cost Management.

Use these show notes to follow along with the audio:

Segment one:

• Ron first met Dr. Reginald Lee online during a FIERCE debate on cost accounting. Reginald left several comments on LinkedIn with arguments that Ron had never seen before and he knew he needed to have a deeper conversation. 

• During their first in-person meeting, Ron and Ed learning something valuable from Dr. Reginald Lee. “Cost is an opinion.”

• Because Dr. Reginald Lee wasn’t an accountant, one of the refutations Ron/Ed often heard was “he’s not an accountant” (he’s an engineer). But in his campaign against cost accounting, what many forget is that cost accounting was developed by engineers.

Segment two:

• Ed has NO IDEA how Dr. Reginald Lee ended up as a Yankees fan (how does anyone end up as a Yankees fan?) but it was a fun rivalry given what everyone should know about Ed Kless. Ed is most definitely a Mets fan.

• Dr. Reginald Lee worked at Boeing and General Motors. He had a love of sports and fast cars. He was outgoing and, with an ability to communicate to his college class with an engineering background, was unique in his own right.

• The funeral home has a page on Dr. Reginald Lee along with tributes on the page from friends and family. https://www.hodappfuneralhome.com/obituaries/reginald-lee 

• In tribute to Dr. Reginald Lee, “Some men see things as they are and say why. I dream things that never were and say why not.” —Robert F. Kennedy https://www.hodappfuneralhome.com/obituaries/reginald-lee 

Segment three:

• Ed had the honor of writing the forward to Dr. Reginald Lee’s most recent book, Project Profitability. https://www.amazon.com/Project-Profitability-Ensuring-Improvement-Projects/dp/1637421699  

• Ron had the honor of writing the forward to Dr. Reginald Lee’s book, Strategic Cost Transformation. https://www.amazon.com/Strategic-Cost-Transformation-Business-Management/dp/1631578790/ 

• “A man with one watch knows what time it is. A man with two watches is never sure.” Segal's Law summarizes the confusion behind cost accounting and why Dr. Reginald Lee’s work was so important.

Segment four:

• Dr. Reginald Lee kept a list of all of his appearances on The Soul of Enterprise PLUS other appearances. More here: https://www.bdrco.org/interviews 

• “Cost Accounting, R.I.P.” — An article by Ron Baker that mentions the work of Dr. Reginald Lee. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140123194426-38251380-cost-accounting-r-i-p/ 

• “The Death of Cost Accounting” A book review by Ron Baker in which he recounts meeting Dr. Reginald Lee and getting to know his work. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/death-cost-accounting-book-review-ron-baker/ 

• “Why Timesheets Focus Firm Leaders on the Wrong Things” — An article in which Ron Baker recounts the work of Dr. Reginald Lee and talks about why cost accounting is a bad idea. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-timesheets-focus-firm-leaders-wrong-things-ron-baker/ 

• Dr. Reginald Lee is survived by his wife and 4 children. One of the children suffers from a rare disease. There is more information at this GoFundMe link: https://www.gofundme.com/f/tamara-and-family 

Bonus Content is Available As Well

Did you know that each week after our live show, Ron and Ed take to the microphone for a bonus show? Typically, this bonus show is an extension of the live show topic (sometimes even with the same guest) and a few other pieces of news, current events, or things that have caught our attention.

Click the “FANATIC” image to learn more about pricing and member benefits. 

Episode #434: Second interview with Timothy Chou

Back in October of 2016, Ron and Ed interviewed Professor Timothy Chou of Stanford about his books Cloud: Seven clear business models and Precision: Principles, Practices and Solutions for the Internet of Things. This time around we were pleased to get an update on his work and talk a bit more about AI and the recent explosion of interest around ChatGPT.

A Bit More About Timothy Chou…

Timothy Chou has been a leader in bringing enterprises to the cloud. In 2000 he returned to Oracle to become the first President of the company’s cloud computing business. While at Oracle he published the landmark book The End of Software, which predicted the rise of SaaS applications. He has been an advisor to many Silicon Valley startups and today serves as the Chairman of Alchemist Accelerator, focused on early stage enterprise software companies. He also serves on the public company board of Teradata.

Timothy has a parallel career in academics. He taught introductory computer architecture for 15 years at Stanford University. In 2006 he launched the first class on cloud computing, CS309A. The class has had over one hundred public company CEOs as guest lecturers.

He has come out of retirement to work on his last great project - the Pediatric Moonshot. The moon shot mission is to transform children's healthcare globally by creating real-time, privacy-preserving applications based on the data from 1,000,000 healthcare machines in all 500 children’s hospitals in the world. In the process he has founded Bevelcloud to build and deploy a decentralized, in-the-building edge cloud service, which is architected for AI applications in medicine.

Show outline:

• Casa Bonita is taking reservations for events starting in July.

• My books are temporarily gone because I had new carpeting put in.

• What’s next for AI?

• What does the future look like for the world of work?

• The story of how he got started with the Pediatric Moonshot.

• There are only 3000 pediatric cardiologists in the whole country, which is amazingly few.

• The fine art of coexisting securely and managed way is one of the innovations we’ve had to make.

• Sponsor: CFO Bookshelf

• The importance of the ImageNet contest and how it has changed the world.

• Doctors use a website called GlassHospital.com to make difficult diagnoses that no other doctor can figure out.

• What’s the problem with the old centralized mechanism?

• What are you going to do with this?

• The cost side of accounting is fascinating. The medical establishment is not.

• What’s so exciting about this tech?

• How to get the word out about this show?

• Gorbachev’s speech at Moscow State University

Bonus Content is Available As Well

Did you know that each week after our live show, Ron and Ed take to the microphone for a bonus show? Typically, this bonus show is an extension of the live show topic (sometimes even with the same guest) and a few other pieces of news, current events, or things that have caught our attention.

Click the “FANATIC” image to learn more about pricing and member benefits. 

Episode #433: Interview with Hector Garcia CPA

Ron and Ed welcomed Hector Garcia, CPA to the show. We talked about the business model for professionals and all things technology including AI. Hector is a long-time listener and has put many of the ideas we talk about into practice at his organization Quick Bookkeeping of Miami LLC, a family owned practice that has been helping small business with their tax and accounting needs for over 13 years in Doral and all over the world. His YouTube channel has over 222,000 subscribers.

A Bit More About Hector…

Hector Garcia is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), licensed in Florida; entrepreneur, and YouTuber who specializes in providing educational content on accounting, finance, and business management. He has a strong online presence through his YouTube channel and Facebook Groups, where he shares tutorials, lectures, and expert advice on a variety of topics, including QuickBooks, tax preparation, financial analysis, and small business management. Hector holds several Master/Post-graduate degrees in Accounting, Finance, and Taxation from Florida International University. He is also Certified Advanced QuickBooks ProAdvisor. He is also the founder and current CEO of Quick Bookkeeping & Accounting LLC, a Miami-based firm founded in 2009.

You can find Hector at these links:

YouTube
Facebook Group
LinkedIn
Right Tool

Use these notes to follow along with the show

Segment one:

• Hector started in technology working for GeekSquad! From there, at a bank he found his passion for technology and banking. Yada. Yada. Yada. He is now a business owner and guest on The Soul of Enterprise! More here: https://hectorgarcia.com/ 

• What Hector really loves is empowering people to take control over their own lives — to have confidence in their work and the decisions they make in their business. His YouTube channel is great. https://www.youtube.com/c/HectorGarciaCPA 

• “I help people take more vacations.” —Hector Garcia CPA

• Hector’s YouTube channel is mostly focused on business, profitability, and accounting. However, the channel is a reflection of his life and features a few videos with his children as well. https://www.youtube.com/c/HectorGarciaCPA 

• So what about ChatGPT? Hector uses it to get a head start on some of his work. For example, he has used it to help draft small agreements for customers. Then he asks those customers to send it to lawyer and saves them some time (and money). 

Segment two:

• What are Hector’s thoughts on accounting industry labor shortages? Every tax season is like a punch in the face. “The next one will be my last.” 

• “If you are able to charge your client as a percentage of the value you create, it gets a lot easier to compensate your employees proportionately. The problem we have is many firms bill by the hour.” —Hector Garcia CPA

• “Everyone knows that if you jump from firm to firm, you can increase your salary but staying in the same firm you only get an inflation adjustment. Why have we — the accounting industry — not addressed this problem with dynamic compensation plans?”

Segment three:

• Hector is obsessed with the “magic prompt” that makes ChatGPT more than a novelty. He started asking ChatGPT to write code for him so that he could speak in the same language as his programmer.

• 1/2 Bank statements from clients have lots of transactions and many are unknown. Right now, you have to take an unknown transaction and use Google to figure out the detail. It could take you 10 minutes to figure out what a single $37 transaction might be for.

• 2/2 So can you use ChatGPT to speed this up? Through some quick prompt engineering, Hector finds it is much quicker to research unknown transactions in this way.

• Let’s say you could plug in your tax software and data into ChatGPT. “Hey, which of my clients own a home?” “Which of my clients has international income?” It could go through your entire dataset and scour it for answers to complex questions.

Segment four:

• What made Hector want to transition his firm to a subscription billing model? Listening to Ron and Ed for many years certainly helped! 

• In the coming months, Hector’s firm will be on the forefront of technology as they change and evolve. The only way to do this with predictable revenue is through the subscription model.

• That’s a wrap! Thank you VERY MUCH to Hector Garcia, CPA for joining us today. Check out more of his work on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/c/HectorGarciaCPA 

Bonus Content is Available As Well

Did you know that each week after our live show, Ron and Ed take to the microphone for a bonus show? Typically, this bonus show is an extension of the live show topic (sometimes even with the same guest) and a few other pieces of news, current events, or things that have caught our attention.

Click the “FANATIC” image to learn more about pricing and member benefits. 

Episode #432: Interview with Stephan Kinsella - Abolishing IP

Ron and Ed recently welcomed patent attorney and advocate for abolishing intellectual property, Stephan Kinsella to the show. We explored what is (and is not) intellectual property and then had a conversation about why Stephan thinks these forms of property should not exist and why the world would be better if they did not.

A Bit More About Stephan…

N. Stephan Kinsella (LL.M., King’s College London-University of London; JD, Paul M. Hebert Law Center, LSU; BSEE and MSEE, LSU) is a libertarian writer and registered patent attorney in Houston. He has spoken, lectured and published widely on various areas of libertarian legal theory and on legal topics such as intellectual property law and international law. His  publications include Law in a Libertarian World: Legal Foundations of a Free Society  (Papinian Press, forthcoming) Against Intellectual Property (Mises Institute, 2008), International Investment, Political Risk, and Dispute Resolution: A Practitioner’s Guide (Oxford, 2020), and several others.

Use these notes to follow along with the show:

Segment one:

• Ron first heard Stephan Kinsella on the Tom Woods show, episode 2145. Link is here: https://tomwoods.com/ep-2145-does-intellectual-property-exist/ 

• Stephan started out of law school in a big law firm. He has been a solo practitioner for the last 8-10 years but he’s “pretty much” retired now :) 

• Stephan published the original article about 20 years ago, “Against Intellectual Property” and here is a new, more general approach to the same article: https://c4sif.org/2022/05/against-intellectual-property-after-twenty-years-looking-back-and-looking-forward/ 

• Everyone believes in property rights BUT property rights in any non-Libertarian system is summarized as, “You own your own stuff unless the government says otherwise.”

• “Wealth is the subjective appraisal of things you own” —Stephan Kinsella

• Stephan referenced the Sweat of the Brow Doctrine earlier today on the show. Here’s a good starting point for you: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweat_of_the_brow

Segment two:

• While working in Big Law, Stephan “billed every tenth of an hour every 6 minutes.” This was referred to internally in the firm as a shizzle. 

• Stephan has a great description of contracts on the show today. Contracts are all about communication by the owner as to whether they will or will not allow other people to use their resources (either temporarily or permanently).

• The 4 main categories of IP in the United States are: patent, copyright, trademark, and trade secrets. Stephan goes into detail about this during segment two of the show.

• In theory, patents are effectively monopoly control for 20 years that allows you to charge monopoly prices. There is no evidence that patents induce innovation whatsoever. 

• Patents kill. LITERALLY. Read more from Stephan Kinsella here: https://mises.org/wire/patents-kill-compulsory-licenses-and-genzymes-life-saving-drug 

Segment three:

• “The Overwhelming Empirical Case Against Patent and Copyright” by Stephan Kinsella: https://c4sif.org/2012/10/the-overwhelming-empirical-case-against-patent-and-copyright/ 

• “Law and Intellectual Property in a Stateless Society” by Stephan Kinsella http://libertarianpapers.org/1-law-intellectual-property-stateless-society/

• Most libertarians find some areas of libertarian theory more interesting than others. Stephan’s own passion has always been rights theory and related areas, such as the theory of contracts, causation, and punishment. More here: https://mises.org/library/intellectual-property-and-libertarianism 

• Despite the fact that there is widespread copying, the amount of art, design, music, and movies is greater than ever. Piracy/copying is obviously not a hinderance to progress.

Segment four:

• “Attribution have nothing to do with copyright.” —Stephan Kinsella

• “Plagiarism is simply representing someones work as your own. It has nothing to do with copyright.” —Stephan Kinsella

• If you buy a fake Rolex for $20, there is no fraud involved. The buyer knows the Rolex is fake. Stephan talked through this during the last segment of our show today.

• A big THANK YOU to our guest today, Stephan Kinsella. His work is deep and focused on abolishing IP. Check out StephanKinsella.com for links to his work.

Bonus Content is Available As Well

Did you know that each week after our live show, Ron and Ed take to the microphone for a bonus show? Typically, this bonus show is an extension of the live show topic (sometimes even with the same guest) and a few other pieces of news, current events, or things that have caught our attention.

Click the “FANATIC” image to learn more about pricing and member benefits. 

Episode #431: Interview with Mark P. Mills

In his book, The Cloud Revolution, Mark P. Mills explains how the conventional wisdom on how technology will change the future is wrong and lays out a radically different and optimistic vision for what’s really coming. According to Mark, a convergence of technologies will instead drive an economic boom over the coming decade, one that historians will characterize as the “Roaring 2020s.” It will come not from any single big invention, but from the confluence of radical advances in three primary technology domains: microprocessors, materials, and machines.

A Bit More About Mark…

Mark P. Mills is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and a faculty fellow at Northwestern University’s McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science. He is also a strategic partner with Montrose Lane (an energy-tech venture fund). Previously, Mills cofounded Digital Power Capital, a boutique venture fund, and was chairman and CTO of ICx Technologies, helping take it public in 2007. Mills is author of the book The Cloud Revolution: How the Convergence of New Technologies Will Unleash the Next Economic Boom and a Roaring 2020s (Encounter Books, 2021), and host of the new podcast The Last Optimist. He is also author of Digital Cathedrals (2020), and Work in the Age of Robots (2018). Mills earlier coauthored (with Peter Huber) The Bottomless Well: The Twilight of Fuel, the Virtue of Waste, and Why We Will Never Run Out of Energy (Basic Books, 2005). His articles have been published widely, including in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, USA Today, and Real Clear. Mills has appeared as a guest on CNN, Fox, NBC, PBS, and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. In 2016, Mills was named “Energy Writer of the Year” by the American Energy Society. Earlier, Mills was a technology advisor for Bank of America Securities and coauthor of the Huber-Mills Digital Power Report, a tech investment newsletter. He has testified before Congress numerous times, and briefed state public-service commissions and legislators. Mills served in the White House Science Office under President Reagan.

Buy on Amazon

Use these notes to follow along with the show:

Segment one:

• Our show bumper — featuring Ronald Reagan — epitomizes Mark’s book, The Cloud Revolution. It’s an incredibly clear statement about there being no limits to growth. More about the book here: https://www.amazon.com/Cloud-Revolution-Convergence-Technologies-Economic/dp/1641772301

• The 1920s tell us a lot about behavior. What intrigues Mark about this era was the confluence of events that can tell us so much about the 2020’s. History can’t predict the future but the patterns can help us understand.

• Airplanes achieved utility value in the 1920s. The expansion of telephony. The beginning of the modern science era. Mark’s book features a MUCH larger list of the combination of things that caused the greatest advancement of wealth in human history.

• This is simple and brilliant from Mark. How is the cloud different from the internet. “The cloud is different from the internet as the internet is different from the telephone networks.”

Segment two:

• Americans, broadly speaking, are very tolerant of cultural and political experimentation. Everything is a cycle and the American pendulum swings a little more easily than in Europe or Canada. The underlying culture of America is what led to our economic flourishing.

• What people believe matters. Economists are reluctant to admit the extent to what people believe influences economic growth.

• Anthropomorphic robots are an example in Mark’s book. Where will they have utility? That’s harder to predict than predicting that we will have them at all. More here: https://www.amazon.com/Cloud-Revolution-Convergence-Technologies-Economic/dp/1641772301 

• Directly from Mark’s book: Revolutions happen at the intersection of three spheres: the machine, the materials, and the information https://www.amazon.com/Cloud-Revolution-Convergence-Technologies-Economic/dp/1641772301 

Segment three:

• The amount of power required for JUST the future of edge computing is equivalent to all commercial HVAC systems today combined. Can or will we generate enough power to keep up? Mark’s answer was great in that “CAN” and “WILL” are very different.

• Mark spent his first days in the United States as a commercial science adviser at 3 mile island…the week after the accident. As a power expert, Mark postulates that small nuclear reactors will become increasingly important. 

• Mark was pleased and surprised to find that there are something like 50 designs for new, small nuclear reactors. Some are small enough to power a house. That’s a newfound fact after writing The Cloud Revolution: https://www.amazon.com/Cloud-Revolution-Convergence-Technologies-Economic/dp/1641772301

• 20% of the worlds energy goes into making electricity. If you switch all of them to nuclear energy, you’ll take away 10-15% of the need for hydrocarbons. Meaning…it will have no impact on the demand 20 years from now but still remains important.

Segment four:

• George Gilder’s peer-to-peer argument is not necessarily in direct conflict with Mark’s view in The Cloud Revolution. Both are possible and both are happening simultaneously. More here: https://www.amazon.com/Cloud-Revolution-Convergence-Technologies-Economic/dp/1641772301 

• Networks are like peaches. They have a strong core and the surface gets larger faster (the surface is the edge for those following along with the analogy).

• “The technologies don’t exist” to achieve no use of hydrocarbons. The real debate is the amount of hydrocarbons in use in 20 years. 

• A big THANK YOU to Mark P. Mills for joining us today. Folks, he is an expert and thinker that fits right in with our other guests. Do yourself a favor and check out his book, The Cloud Revolution, at this link: https://www.amazon.com/Cloud-Revolution-Convergence-Technologies-Economic/dp/1641772301

Bonus Content is Available As Well

Did you know that each week after our live show, Ron and Ed take to the microphone for a bonus show? Typically, this bonus show is an extension of the live show topic (sometimes even with the same guest) and a few other pieces of news, current events, or things that have caught our attention.

Click the “FANATIC” image to learn more about pricing and member benefits. 

Episode #430: LIVE from the 2023 Meeting of the Minds

Ron and Ed once again took the show on the road. For the third time, they were honored to appear at the Meeting of the Minds. Aside from taking questions from the attendees, they had a conversation about an Harvard Business Review article from Joe Pine et al entitled, The “New You” Business.

Use these notes to follow along with the show:

Segment one:

• The “New You” Business is a recent article from Joe Pine et al. We spend the first part of the show talking about it. Link is here: https://hbr.org/2022/01/the-new-you-business 

• So what is the “New You”? It’s about a hierarchy of value from products to services to experiences to transformations.

• 1/4 When you sell things, you have a commodity business. How do you de-commoditize a commodity?

• 2/4 What happens when your product becomes a commodity? You wrap some services around your product.

• 3/4 What happens when your service becomes a commodity? If you can throw in an experience which is memorable…now you are in the experience business.

• 4/4 What happens when your experience becomes commodity? Then you provide transformations because you are guiding the customer from where they are to a desired future state. That makes the customer the product.

• “All too often fitness centers, medical providers, colleges, and organizations in many other industries seek to distinguish themselves only on the quality, convenience, and experience of what they sell.” From The “New You” Business by Joe Pine et al. Link is here: https://hbr.org/2022/01/the-new-you-business 

• “A professional is someone who is responsible for creating a result instead of doing a task.” Ron Baker

Segment two:

• Sponsored by @90Minds, our Patreon channel at Patreon.com/TSOE provides commercial free and bonus episodes to our members. Need a mind? Find one at 90Minds.com!

• “The person has to want to be transformed.” —Ron Baker. So simple, kinda funny, and is at the heart of how you can guide a customer towards transformation.

• “How many times have you completed 80% of the work but only 20% of the value was realized because you didn’t get to do the stuff at the end?” —Ed Kless

• “Such business models [those focused on transformations] will be much harder to imitate than those that offer only goods, services, or experiences. And they promise to generate handsome rewards” — More here: https://hbr.org/2022/01/the-new-you-business 

• Ed Kless told the landscaper story again today from Tim Williams (@timwilliamsicg) and it NEVER GETS OLD. An archived video of the story is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5wzlVplZ34 

• Referenced by Ron Baker today, here is a link to the “Willy Wonka” of coffee — Starbucks Reserve https://www.starbucksreserve.com 

Segment three:

• It’s time for questions from the audience! The first one is from Gary Feldman of IBN: What is the end goal beyond the profitability when you are talking about transformations?

• The result of your business is profit. The PURPOSE is not profit. John Mackey from Whole Foods says profit in a business is like red blood cells in your body. Nobody wakes up in the morning with the PURPOSE of producing red blood cells.

• Another audience question: What is the nature of companies that are interested in a true transformation?

• An audience question from Wayne Schulz: How, as consultants, do we start to convince our customer that it is a good idea to pay us to project manage a transformation when we’ve never done so in the past? 

• Ron referenced the Direct Primary Care business model today and we’ve had a GREAT guest on the show several times. Dr. Paul runs a DPC and wrote the book on how to do it. More here: https://www.thesoulofenterprise.com/269 

Segment four:

• In a previous show, Ed asked ChatGPT to produce an “ABOUT” page on a website for an accounting firm. It was eerily accurate because it was plain, boring, and pretty vanilla.

• A few weeks ago, we had Chris Vanover on the show to talk about his audit subscription services. More here: https://www.thesoulofenterprise.com/423 

• “People that have more money than time will pay for a level of convenience.” —Ron Baker

• And that’s a wrap! Thank you VERY MUCH to our great audience at The Meeting of the Minds!

Bonus Content is Available As Well

Did you know that each week after our live show, Ron and Ed take to the microphone for a bonus show? Typically, this bonus show is an extension of the live show topic (sometimes even with the same guest) and a few other pieces of news, current events, or things that have caught our attention.

Click the “FANATIC” image to learn more about pricing and member benefits. 

Episode #429: One Thing! Part Two!

Inspired by A. J. Jacobs when he appeared on Russ Robert's great podcast EconTalk (and Curly from City Slickers), Ron and Ed have each been keeping a "One Thing" journal for the last few years. They first shared from this journal back in October 2021, but the time has come to share some more of their best "One Things."

Editor’s note:

• Instead of the typical show note format, we have organized both Ron and Ed’s ONE THING into discrete lists below.

Ron’s ONE THING:

• Prefer clarity over agreement. —meeting of the minds, Mortimer Adler

• Unearned self-esteem is narcissism

• DRIP = Data rich, insight poor

• FISH = First In, Still Here

• There are 2 types of laws. There is law and there is legislation. Laws are descriptive (like gravity). Legislation is prescriptive (and arbitrary like the 55MPH speed limit).

• Want to get rich quick? Count your blessings

• Wisdom enters through the wound

• Pedro Domingos of the University of Washington (while on EconTalk) says, “People worry that computers will get too smart and take over the world, but the real problem is that they’re too stupid and that they’ve already taken over the world.”

• When you have to express something that you are pessimistic about, Ron like’s to quote George Will’s “Ohio in 1895 Theory of history”: In 1895 in Ohio, there were two automobiles in entire state — and they collided!

• Famous chefs have said that technique trumps ingredient

• Paula Scher created the Citi logo on a napkin during the pitch meeting. She’s famous for saying, “People love to buy process”

• From Ron’s list, he often uses this quote when people ask what is public choice theory? James Buchanan’s Public Choice Theory says, “It’s Government without romance.”

• “Before we decide which opera singer is better, we should listen to both.” What George Stigler is talking about is capitalism vs. socialism — or reality vs. utopia

• From Ron’s ONE THING list courtesy of Mark Twain: “If pro is the opposite of con, then the opposite of progress must be Congress.”

• On defensive decision making from Rory Sutherland: B2C is where people are avoiding regret. B2B is where people are avoiding blame.

• “The best history, is written when we realize that people acted in expectation of a future that was never going to happen.” - Roy Foster on Conversations with Tyler

• “Thinking about the unthinkable is interesting.” —Herman Kahn

• “Don't be thinking your ambition is corrupt." - Jordan Peterson when asked for his advice for incoming freshmen at college by Peter Robinson

Ed’s ONE THING:

• What decision do you or your firm need to make over the next 3 to 6 months?

• Regarding the The Vampire Problem: We don’t know if we would be better off becoming a vampire until after we become a vampire. Substitute parent, spouse or other life choice for vampire

• Courtesy of Michal Munger, here is a ONE THING from Ed: Capitalism does NOT start with the premise that greed is good. Capitalism starts with the premise greed is a human failing and harnesses that to benefit consumer sovereignty

• From Ed (with the obvious disclaimer that this is a personal view and nothing more): It should be just as discrediting to call someone a Marxist as it is a Nazi

• The US Constitution is the prettiest pig in an ugly pig competition.

• To insure something is to enter into a financial arrangement in which you pay premiums in exchange for a future payment in case of the loss of or damage to the thing insured. If you are making sure that something is going to happen, you ensure it. Different words, different meanings. - Kevin Williamson

• Great improvisers are incredibly well prepared. Great improvisation requires an incredible amount of practice and preparation.

• From Ed we have Christopher Buckley’s “Yuppie Nuremberg Defense” — “I was only paying the mortgage!”

• We like it when our friends like what we like, but we really hate it when they don't hate what we hate.

• If you think the sanctions against Russia will be an effective tool by isolating them economically AND you think we should buy American/locally to eliminate the “trade deficit,” it is time for you to pause and reflect.

• This is a great ONE THING from Ed towards the end of the show. Courtesy of Rory Sutherland: “But what if we make it pink and increase the price.”

Bonus Content is Available As Well

Did you know that each week after our live show, Ron and Ed take to the microphone for a bonus show? Typically, this bonus show is an extension of the live show topic (sometimes even with the same guest) and a few other pieces of news, current events, or things that have caught our attention.

Click the “FANATIC” image to learn more about pricing and member benefits. 

Episode #428: The Muppets in Moscow with Natasha Lance Rogoff

Editor’s notes:

• Natasha Lance Rogoff has a great website with more information. Click here to visit.

• The audiobook, hardcover, and Kindle versions of Muppets in Moscow are all available at this link.

Show notes:

Ed and Ron were honored to welcome Natasha Lance Rogoff to The Soul of Enterprise. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, the timing appeared perfect to bring Sesame Street to millions of children living in the former Soviet Union. With the Muppets envisioned as ideal ambassadors of Western idealistic values, no one anticipated just how challenging and dangerous this would prove to be. In Muppets in Moscow, Natasha Lance Rogoff brings the story to life. Lance Rogoff, a young American television producer fluent in Russian, was chosen to lead a crew of hundreds of American and Russian artists, producers, educators, writers, and puppeteers to create the Russian adaptation. During the production, against the backdrop of bombings and the assassination of her Russian broadcast partners, Lance Rogoff and the team remained determined to bring laughter, learning, and a new way of seeing the world to children in Russia. In her book, she illuminates how cultural clashes colored nearly every aspect of the production, from the show’s educational framework to scriptwriting to the new Russian Muppets themselves, often pitting Sesame Street’s Western values against nearly four centuries of Russian thought. In spite of the challenges, the show would go on to become a major hit, airing for over a decade. Muppets in Moscow explores post-Soviet societal tensions that continue to thwart the Russian people’s efforts to create a better future for their country. More than just a story of a children’s show, it provides a valuable perspective of Russia’s people, their culture, and their complicated relationship with the West that remains more relevant than ever today.

About Natasha Lance Rogoff

Natasha Lance Rogoff is an award-winning American television producer, filmmaker, and journalist who has produced television news and documentaries in Russia, Ukraine, and the former Soviet Union for CBS, NBC, ABC, and PBS. Lance Rogoff executive produced Ulitsa Sezam, the Russian adaptation of Sesame Street, between 1993 and 1997. She also produced Plaza Sesamo in Mexico. In addition to her television work, Lance Rogoff has reported on Soviet underground culture as a documentary director and magazine and newspaper writer for major international media outlets. Today, she produces content for television and digital platforms and is the CEO and founder of an ed-tech company. An associate fellow in Harvard University’s Art, Film, and Visual Studies department, she divides her time between Cambridge, MA and New York City.

Use these notes to follow along with the show:

Segment one:

• Natasha’s story starts long before her book, Muppets in Moscow. She changed her name at 16 and briefly moved to Venezuela for a summer to learn how to speak Spanish. She was fascinated with other cultures from a very young age.

• What was it like to live in Russian during the Cold War? “It was a period of stagnant Soviet leaders but also an incredibly vibrant underground culture.” —Natasha Lance Rogoff 

• So how did Natasha end up bringing Sesame Street to Moscow? “Totally randomly” was her tongue in cheek answer and the book goes into the details. More information here: https://www.natashalancerogoff.com/ 

• When bringing Sesame Street to the former Soviet Union, the whole idea was that the show would reflect the country’s values and culture, not that it would be a carbon copy of the American show.

Segment two:

• Sesame Street, in part, teaches children about society. While in Moscow, Natasha suggested, “What about a lemonade stand?” The suggestion was met with horror (in a funny way) as it was illegal in the USSR to sell on the streets as an independent.

• When creating content for Sesame Street in Russia, it was challenging because there wasn’t an opposition to Capitalism itself. However, it was more about a lack of understanding because the Russian people did not know how it looked.

• In Chapter 5 of Muppets in Moscow, Natasha describes a financing meeting with 12 prominent men. She was the only woman in the room. Shockingly, the management team at Sesame Workshop said “no” to financing by the Russian Mafia :)  

• Every Sesame Street international production involves bringing foreign staff and partners to Sesame Workshop in Manhattan. In segment two today, Natasha describes the gap in knowledge and understanding between the US and Russian staff.

Segment three:

• While working hard to bring Sesame Street to Moscow, the office in Moscow was raided by soldiers. The soldiers STOLE Elmo! Seriously, Elmo was stolen by Russian soldiers and the full story is in the book, Muppets in Moscow. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1538161281/ 

• There is a book trailer for Muppets in Moscow and it is WORTH an entire one minute of your time. Check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iF_c2dgels 

Segment four:

• During auditions for Sesame Street while in Moscow Natasha, quite obviously, needed children. She was looking forward to the beautiful soprano voices. Each choice of song by the children grew more and more depressing. More in the book here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1538161281/   

• The memes that go around today with “Russia for Russians” show classic Soviet images with the words like “sadness is for Russians”. This is reminiscent of Natasha’s time during the child auditions.

• A big THANK YOU to Natasha Lance Rogoff for joining us today. Her book, Muppets in Moscow is AMAZING and available now at this link https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1538161281/

Bonus Content is Available As Well

Did you know that each week after our live show, Ron and Ed take to the microphone for a bonus show? Typically, this bonus show is an extension of the live show topic (sometimes even with the same guest) and a few other pieces of news, current events, or things that have caught our attention.

Click the “FANATIC” image to learn more about pricing and member benefits. 

Episode #427: The Essentials of Strategy

Rock climbers call certain boulders “problems” and the toughest part “the crux.” Richard Rumelt, in his new book The Crux: How Leaders Become Strategists, uses this term to describe a three-part strategic skill: 1) judgment about what is important and what’s secondary; 2) judgment about the difficulties of dealing with these issues; and 3) being able to focus. Join Ed and Ron as they discuss the essentials of strategy.

Since Greg is on PTO we present the AI edition of Greg's Notes with no edits.

Summary from Otter.ai:

• What did you want to call this? 0:05

• What does it take to be successful in the knowledge economy? 3:21

• The problem with strategy in business. 10:56

• What is the crux of agnarly problems? 16:43

• What’s the relationship of monkeys and flame throwers to strategy? 21:38

• The importance of having timely access to the right people in your business. 28:22

• Services are a means to an end, not an end. 37:44

• The mistaken belief that the purpose of a business is to make a profit. 43:58

• Ron’s book is not a strategy book. It’s a book of advice. 50:15

• The low-price, low-performance disruption theory. 52:49

• The 17 Sustainable Development Goals are aspirational, but they are not coherent. 57:40

Bonus Content is Available As Well

Did you know that each week after our live show, Ron and Ed take to the microphone for a bonus show? Typically, this bonus show is an extension of the live show topic (sometimes even with the same guest) and a few other pieces of news, current events, or things that have caught our attention.

Click the “FANATIC” image to learn more about pricing and member benefits. 

Episode #426: Interview with David Alfery, MD, Author of Saving Grace

Ed and Ron were honored to have Dr. David D. Alfery on the show. He is the author of Saving Grace: What Patients Teach Their Doctors about Life, Death, and the Balance in Between. We loved this book, because it will resonate with any professional. Please listen if you are prepared for a very moving and profound discussion.

About Dr. David Alfery

Dr. David Alfery was raised in the North but moved to Louisiana to attend Tulane University where he obtained a BA in English. After graduating from LSU Medical School in New Orleans, he spent a year as a surgical intern at the University of Kentucky in Lexington before doing his residency in anesthesia at the University of California in San Diego. He stayed on there for an additional year of fellowship training in cardiothoracic anesthesia. In 1980 he moved to Nashville, Tennessee where he spent a thirty-six-year career in private practice. Dr. Alfery has served as a Chief of Anesthesia, President of the Tennessee State Society of Anesthesiologists, and was a founding member of Anesthesia Medical Group, one of the largest anesthesia practices in the United States. For twenty years he served as an Oral Examiner for the American Board of Anesthesiology, ending his tenure as a Senior Examiner. He holds an academic appointment at Vanderbilt University Medical Center as Adjunct Associate Professor of Anesthesiology. Dr. Alfery has authored 10 chapters in medical textbooks and 41 peer reviewed articles in anesthesia medical journals. He invented several anesthesia devices for which he has been awarded 17 US and International patents.

Use these show notes to follow along with the audio:

Segment one:

• “For 36 years, I had the greatest job in the world.” —Dr. Alfery, author of Saving Grace

• Saving Grace, the title of Dr. Alfery’s book, is a play on words with several meanings. One of them is about Grace, a 19 year old patient that Dr. Alfery was able to treat during the course of his career. More info at this link https://www.amazon.com/Saving-Grace-Patients-Doctors-Balance/dp/1666737941 

• Dr. Alfrey described the medical profession as, “99% boredom and 1% sheer terror”. I’m sure many of you out there can relate.

Segment two:

• We are super excited to welcome a new sponsor to the show today. Work. Now Locally. Welcome to the Wonolo team! Check them out there: https://www.wonolo.com/soul/ @Wonolo

• “Accept immediately that when a patient appears in acute distress they really are in as much pain as they appear.” —Dr. Alfery, author of Saving Grace

• Ed talked about the axiom of the presenting problem today and asked Dr. Alfery to compare that to medicine and how best doctors determine the cause of acute pain.

Segment three:

• As an intern, a mistake made by Dr. Alfery revealed a secret of medicine. Mistakes are commonly made. He has a great saying for this. “Forgive but remember.” 

• Dr. Alfery told a great joke on the show today, “What do you call the person who finishes very last in your medical school class?” Doctor.

• There is something significant about getting in touch with our inner core whether you are religious or not. Dr. Alfery stated that he doesn’t think anybody would ever object to “I’ve already prayed for you today.”

• “The medical missions [to the Caribbean and Romania] were probably the most rewarding part of my career.” —Dr. Alfery

Segment four:

• “I could be teamed with 4 or more total strangers coming to work for the first time in a complex operation and we still functioned well together.” Dr. Alfery talked about this quote from his book today and described HOW this is even possible.

• “If you have enough fame and enough money, you can buy the worst [health]care in America.” —Dr. Alfery

• A big THANK YOU to Dr. Alfery for joining us today. Folks, if you want an inside look into how Dr. Alfery has come to understand that having someone as a patient is an absolute privilege then you should read his book. More info here: https://www.amazon.com/Saving-Grace-Patients-Doctors-Balance/dp/1666737941 

Bonus Content is Available As Well

Did you know that each week after our live show, Ron and Ed take to the microphone for a bonus show? Typically, this bonus show is an extension of the live show topic (sometimes even with the same guest) and a few other pieces of news, current events, or things that have caught our attention.

Click the “FANATIC” image to learn more about pricing and member benefits. 

Episode #425: Second interview with Dr. Kimberlee Josephson

Ron and Ed were overjoyed to bring back to The Soul of Enterprise Dr. Kimberlee Josephson, associate professor of business at Lebanon Valley College, to talk about some of her more recent work on reputation vs regulation, why work won't love you back, and an update on her thoughts about the ESG movement.

About Dr. Kimberlee Josephson

Dr. Kimberlee Josephson is an Associate Professor of Business, Associate Dean for the Breen Center for Graduate Success at Lebanon Valley College in Annville, Pennsylvania, and Adjunct Research Fellow with the Consumer Choice Center. Her academic background is in international studies and strategic management and she teaches courses covering topics on global sustainability, international marketing, and workplace diversity. Prior to serving in academia, her professional career spanned from working in sales in Manhattan, as a producer for a web marketing firm, freelancing for on-air promotions at QVC, and as a research assistant for an international NGO. Her op-eds have appeared at University Business, Quartz at Work, and PA Capital Star. She holds a doctorate in Global Studies and Commerce from La Trobe University in Australia, a master’s degree in Political Science from Temple University in Philadelphia, another master’s degree in International Policy from La Trobe University, and a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a minor in Political Science from Bloomsburg University.

Use these show notes to follow along with the audio:

Segment one:

• Dr. Josephson has been with us before. Her first appearance was episode 360 back in October of 2021. Here is the link if you would like to listen https://www.thesoulofenterprise.com/360 

• Dr. Josephson also joined us in a lively debate with Sam Staley on episode 385. More information at this link https://www.thesoulofenterprise.com/385 

• I don’t think Dr. Josephson is alone when she writes, “Reputation Works Better Than Regulation”. That’s actually the title of an article she penned for AIER. Here is the link https://www.aier.org/article/reputation-works-better-than-regulation-why-demand-should-determine-prices/ 

• We discussed what the Senate Judiciary committee might be watching today on the show with Dr. Josephson https://twitter.com/JudiciaryDems/status/1621191756531236866

• Commercial free AND bonus episodes are available at Patreon.com/TSOE. At a certain membership level you get a shout out like MARK GANDY of CFO Bookshelf at CFOBookshelf.com. Thank you Mark!

Segment two:

• 1/3 Dr. Josephson has a few articles she has written about ESG to try and understand where it came from and what EXACTLY it even means. Let’s start with “Why ESG Ratings Are like Netflix’s Inventing Anna” at this link https://www.aier.org/article/why-esg-ratings-are-like-netflixs-inventing-anna/

• 2/3 After the first article, Dr. Josephson also wrote “The Rise of ESG, Replacing Profits with Paternalism, and Strategy with Standards” at this link https://www.aier.org/article/the-rise-of-esg-replacing-profits-with-paternalism-and-strategy-with-standards/

• 3/3 Coming soon, Dr. Josephson is very close to publishing more articles on the topic of ESG so please watch her author page at AIER for more information https://www.aier.org/people/kimberlee-josephson/ 

• Great example from Dr. Josephson today: Are Legos a monopoly? Sure they are the only provider in the market (others exist but are not compatible) but the market seems happy with the single choice.

Segment three:

• Professor Aswath Damodaran on ESG: “This is a concept that was born in sanctimony, nurtured with hypocrisy, and sold with sophistry all the way.” Our guest, Dr. Josephson, on the show today, “I AGREE.” Show notes and audio will be available by Monday at https://www.thesoulofenterprise.com/425 

• Here is Professor Damodaran’s Musings On Markets website: https://aswathdamodaran.blogspot.com/ 

• In summary during segment three today, Dr. Josephson made a great point: If you want to work at a non-profit or for an NGO, more power to you. But don’t demonize those who choose the private sector and offer a service that the market needs. 

• Is Dr. Josephson optimistic that we will be able to push back on ESG or will it hang over the economy for years to come. Her concern is institutionalizing the concepts before we have a change to think rationally about the outcome.

Segment four:

• “Work Won’t Love You Back, And That Is How It Should Be” — Are we being exploited by our employers? No. As Dr. Josephson says, “More often than not, a job is a means for making a living or furthering a skillset, rather than finding one’s passion or fulfilling a dream.” https://www.aier.org/article/work-wont-love-you-back-and-that-is-how-it-should-be/

• “At least you have that option for a crappy job with crappy wages and you work at it until you find something better.” —Dr. Josephson

• A big THANK YOU to Dr. Kimberlee Josephson for joining us today. We will publish links to her recent work in our show notes by Monday at this link https://www.thesoulofenterprise.com/425 

Bonus Content is Available As Well

Did you know that each week after our live show, Ron and Ed take to the microphone for a bonus show? Typically, this bonus show is an extension of the live show topic (sometimes even with the same guest) and a few other pieces of news, current events, or things that have caught our attention.

Click the “FANATIC” image to learn more about pricing and member benefits. 

Episode #424: Interview with Dr. Jay Baruch, The Tornado of Life

Ed and Ron were honored to host Dr. Jay Baruch, author of Tornado of Life: A Doctor’s Journey through Constraints and Creativity in the ER. When a patient comes into the hospital with cardiac arrest or a compound fracture, doctors know what to do. The problem is evident, and the solution is practically algorithmic. Dr. Baruch contends that the biggest challenge and the biggest part of an ER doctor’s work is often caring for people who come in with not just problems with their body, but also social issues, emotional issues, and substance use issues—and oftentimes all of them at once. In Tornado of Life, we come to see that the toughest part of an emergency physician’s work isn’t the high-wattage drama, the mayhem and the blood, that is portrayed on television, but rather the actual getting to the heart of the patient’s story—and figuring out how to address it. Because they’re real, these stories often end without closure or solutions. Sometimes underlying causes aren’t found. Sometimes serious problems are missed. Some patients leave against doctor’s orders. Some are simply discharged into the night. A profoundly human book, Tornado of Life is poised to change the way we view doctors, illness, and the “emotional and moral contact sport” that is emergency medicine. Join us for what was a profoundly human discussion.

About Dr. Jay Baruch

Jay Baruch, a practicing emergency room physician, is Professor of Emergency Medicine at Brown University’s Alpert Medical School and the author of two award-winning short fiction collections, What's Left Out and Fourteen Stories: Doctors, Patients, and Other Strangers. He lives in Providence, Rhode Island. His recent book, and the topic of today’s show, Tornado of Life: A Doctor’s Journey through Constraints and Creativity in the ER. It is poised to change the way we view doctors, illness, and the “emotional and moral contact sport” that is emergency medicine.

Use these show notes to follow along with the audio:

Segment one:

• When did Jay know he wanted to be a doctor? He went to college to be a writer and then took a course that involved hospital visits. The privilege of taking to patients and hearing their stories changed the course of his career.

• Specifically, why the emergency room for Dr. Jay? Being in an ER, Dr. Jay was both terrified and invigorated at the same time. “It felt like home” is the way he described it today on the show. 

• We are going to speak mostly about Dr. Jay’s book today. It is called “Tornado of Life: A Doctor’s Journey through Constraints and Creativity in the ER” and there is more info at this link https://www.jaybaruch.com/ 

• In chapter 3, Dr. Jay tells the story of Cheryl and reveals the impetus behind the title of his new book, Tornado of Life. Here is the Amazon link https://www.amazon.com/Tornado-Life-Doctors-Constraints-Creativity/dp/0262046970 

Segment two:

• “More data doesn’t mean more certainty if it’s in the service of the wrong questions.” —Jay Baruch from his book Tornado of Life. More at this link https://www.jaybaruch.com/ 

• Regarding the curiosity of children, “Sometimes we should just give kids answers and ask them to name five questions that this could be the answer to.” —a brilliant quote from Dr. Jay Baruch

• “A convincing story is oftentimes believed on the virtue of it being a good story. Sometimes we do not ask ‘is this true?’ We don’t examine the power of stories the same way we examine the power of data.” —Dr. Jay Baruch

• “The crisis of the ER department crowding...forces physicians like me to allocate compassion.” —Dr. Jay Baruch

Segment three:

• Regarding the M&M (an acronym specific to the medical space): “The root of the problem isn’t a lack of knowledge but smart physicians who just go the story wrong.” Storytelling is the most common theme in Dr. Jay’s book. More here: https://www.jaybaruch.com/ 

• “Think about the stories that you enjoy. You bring something to it. Your own experiences. The most enduring stories are the ones that leave a place for the reader or viewer to bring themselves into it.” —Dr. Jay Baruch

• “It takes some work to embrace complexity.” —Dr. Jay Baruch. Read that again. Short and couldn’t be more true

• Dr. Jay Baruch describes “the pause” in a trauma center as a moment in our day that is actually a profound human experience. Listen to his words as he describes the pause in segment three of our show today. Subscribe here https://link.chtbl.com/TSOE 

Segment four:

• “We never went back to normal. There is no normal.” —Dr. Jay Baruch regarding the emergency room

• Dr. Jay thinks about medical progress on the show today and wonders, “Are we pulling everyone forward or are we creating a widening disparity gap?”

• A big THANK YOU to Dr. Jay Baruch for joining us today. This was an amazing show about his book, Tornado of Life. It is available at this link https://www.jaybaruch.com/  

Bonus Content is Available As Well

Did you know that each week after our live show, Ron and Ed take to the microphone for a bonus show? Typically, this bonus show is an extension of the live show topic (sometimes even with the same guest) and a few other pieces of news, current events, or things that have caught our attention.

Click the “FANATIC” image to learn more about pricing and member benefits. 

Episode #423: Interview with Chris Vanover

Chris Vanover is a founder of AuditClub, a group of former audit partners with a unique and valuable mix of Big 4, regional, and local firm experience. AuditClub provides flexible access to a seasoned team of Chief Auditors and specialists who bring more than 100 years of combined professional experience to their CPA Firm members, helping each of them succeed through better focus, better quality, and better results. They have a unique set of elements in their subscription pricing model.

About Chris Vanover

Chris is a Certified Public Accountant with over two decades of unique public accounting experiences, including distinctive auditing, regulatory, and educational roles with international and regional firms, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (“PCAOB”), and multiple universities. Chris currently serves on the leadership team and as a Chief Auditor for AuditClub, the Audit Service Center for CPA Firms (www.auditclub.cpa). With a mission to make public accounting better, AuditClub provides fractional chief auditors and audit specialists for on-demand AICPA & PCAOB support to Top 10, regional, and local CPA firms throughout the United States. By offering instant talent, deep expertise, and the power of collaborative consumption, AuditClub’s innovative membership model and passes are transforming how CPA firms deliver audits and simply how they get stuff done.

Use these show notes to follow along with the audio:

Segment one:

• So what exactly is the AuditClub of which our guest, Chris Vanover, is a co-founder? It’s an audit service center for CPA firms.

• Initially, the go to market strategy for AuditClub.cpa was to establish relationships with auditing partners at different firms. Eventually, those partners started to ask, “What type of work do you do?” and AuditClub became a fractional audit service.

• They started out with a subscription model in the early days but the market wasn’t quite ready yet. Chris acquiesced and, unfortunately, started selling buckets of hours. That didn’t last long :)

• Points of inspiration for Chris and his business model were the experiences with his family. Places like Disneyland and how they handle large groups helped shape his thoughts. 

• The AuditClub.cpa model is so attractive that Chris and his team are NOT having a hard time finding more team members. This seems to be the exact opposite of every other CPA firm today.

Segment two:

• What was attractive about the subscription model to Chris? It frees his team up to focus on solutions instead of tracking hours and trying to fill out time sheets.

• “You can have access to our team and as long as we have the knowledge and competency, we will do it for you guys. It is all part of the contract.” —Chris Vanover, co-founder AuditClub.cpa 

• Look for a big announcement from Audit Club next week regarding their WEEKLY SUBSCRIPTION PASSES for audit services. You heard it here first on The Soul of Enterprise.

• What kind of KPIs do they use at AuditClub.cpa? Many of them are focused on staff betterment. What is the team doing to better themselves is one of the biggest questions they ask internally.

• “CPA firm clients don’t understand the role they have in creating a successful outcome. Too often the CPA firm ends up being the victim of that.” —Chris Vanover, co-founder AuditClub.cpa

Segment three:

• Chris Vanover of Audit Club has a GREAT article up on @cpapracadvisor called “The Parallel Problems of Public Accounting & Major League Baseball”. We are 25 days away from players reporting so here’s the link! https://www.cpapracticeadvisor.com/2023/01/18/the-parallel-problems-of-public-accounting-major-league-baseball/75940/ 

• The baseball/accounting comparisons continue for Chris Vanover on the show today, “There’s so much data in baseball and there’s so much data in accounting but you don’t see the same level of analysis in accounting and that’s an important distinction.”

Segment four:

• The incentive structure at a lot of the Big 4 firms stifles innovation. There is lots of innovation at lower levels but if you follow the incentives you will see why innovation seems to be stifled at the top.

• Younger business generations understand subscription and they understand that businesses can be run in fundamentally different ways.

• We talked baseball today on the live show and Ed was REALLY EXCITED about the fact that Sage is now an official partner of Major League Baseball! More info here https://www.mlb.com/press-release/press-release-sage-becomes-official-partner-of-mlb-in-tech-brand-s-first-north-a @SageUSAmerica

• That’s a wrap! A big THANK YOU to Chris Vanover of AuditClub.cpa for joining us today! Did you miss us live? Subscribe here https://link.chtbl.com/TSOE 

Bonus Content is Available As Well

Did you know that each week after our live show, Ron and Ed take to the microphone for a bonus show? Typically, this bonus show is an extension of the live show topic (sometimes even with the same guest) and a few other pieces of news, current events, or things that have caught our attention.

Click the “FANATIC” image to learn more about pricing and member benefits. 

Episode #422: Best books of 2022

An annual favorite going back to 2015, Ron and Ed talk about the best books they read each year. Sometimes there is overlap, other times none. (I suspect overlap this year!) Let’s start with a quote: “One must always be careful of books," said Tessa, "and what is inside them, for words have the power to change us.” —Cassandra Clare, Clockwork Angel

Use these show notes to follow along with the audio:

Segment one:

• Here’s a funny quote about books: “Be careful about reading health books—you may die of a misprint” —Marcus Herz

• Getting things started we have number 5 in Ron’s top 5 books of 2023. It’s from Mel Brooks. “All About Me!: My Remarkable Life in Show Business” https://amzn.to/3H37bTR

• Number 5 for Ed in 2022 is from episode number 377. It is the The Lost Cafe Schindler by Meriel Schindler. https://www.amazon.com/dp/0393881628?tag=verainst-20&linkCode=osi&th=1&psc=1 

• Here are the show notes from episode 377 featuring Serial Schindler: https://www.thesoulofenterprise.com/377 

• Number 4 on Ed’s list from back in June is show number 395 featuring Father Robert Sirico. The book is the Economics of the Parables. https://www.amazon.com/dp/1684512425?tag=verainst-20&linkCode=osi&th=1&psc=1 

Segment two:

• Here are the show notes from episode number 395 featuring Father Robert Sirico: https://www.thesoulofenterprise.com/395

• Number 4 on Ron’s list AND number 3 on Ed’s list is Wild Problems by Russ Roberts! https://amzn.to/3vZ9ktB (Folks….this is a surprise to both Ron and Ed each year as they do not share lists until the show goes live)

• Number 3 from from Ron is called Fossil Future and has a great subtitle, “Why Global Human Flourishing Requires More Oil, Coal, and Natural Gas--Not Less” https://amzn.to/3QGOV5R 

• Our Patreon channel is at Patreon.com/TSOE where you will find commercial free and bonus episodes. It is sponsored by @90Minds. Need a mind? Find one at mind at 90Minds.com

Segment three:

• Ron’s number 2 pick for best books of 2022 was a very close number 2. It is deeply uncomfortable and absolutely profound. It is “From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life” https://amzn.to/3H3xdq4 

• Why is this book deeply uncomfortable? Ron talks about it during segment three of the show today and it has a lot to do with the FACT that we all face cognitive decline later in life. It’s one of those books Ron wishes he read in his 20’s.

• Ed’s number 2 pick for best books of 2022 is by two guys you’ve probably never heard of, Ron Baker and Paul Dunn. It’s Time’s Up! https://www.amazon.com/dp/1119893526?tag=verainst-20&linkCode=osi&th=1&psc=1 

• Chapter 5 is Ed’s favorite chapter. It’s called, “This could be the most important business question ever”

• Ed’s favorite quote from Chapter 5 of Time’s Up is, “Questions can change the future before the answers even arrive.”

Segment four:

• It a rare turn of events, both Ron and Ed picked the SAME BOOK as number 1 in their best books of 2022 list. It is Superabundance: The Story of Population Growth, Innovation, and Human Flourishing on an Infinitely Bountiful Planet https://amzn.to/3ZwKPRT

• Marian Tupy’s second appearance on The Soul of Enterprise was focused on Superabundance. Here are the show notes: https://www.thesoulofenterprise.com/409 

• Gale Pooley also joined us in 2022 to talk about Superabunance. Here are the show notes: https://www.thesoulofenterprise.com/418 

• That’s a wrap! Next week is Chris Vanover, CPA from AuditClub to talk about his subscription business. See you in 167 hours!

Bonus Content is Available As Well

Did you know that each week after our live show, Ron and Ed take to the microphone for a bonus show? Typically, this bonus show is an extension of the live show topic (sometimes even with the same guest) and a few other pieces of news, current events, or things that have caught our attention.

Click the “FANATIC” image to learn more about pricing and member benefits. 

Episode #421: 2022 - The Year in Review

One of two recap shows we do each year (the other will be next week's Best Books of 2022), Ron and Ed take a look back at trends (business and otherwise), highlights, and lowlights from the year just past. We review our favorite shows as well as the fan favorites and pay homage (or disparage when appropriate) those who crossed to the other side of the river in 2022.

Use these show notes to follow along with the audio:

Segment one:

• What was the most important tech story in 2022 from an historical perspective? Ed Kless: NASA proved it can deflect an asteroid (in October). Ron Baker: SpaceX and Elon Musk providing Starlink to Ukraine.

• Also see, the James Webb telescope, the stories around fusion. If you want a summary, see Ron’s recommendation from The Economist: “What 2022 meant for the world” https://www.economist.com/leaders/2022/12/20/what-2022-meant-for-the-world 

• The Economist always name a country of the year. Can you guess which one it is for 2022? https://www.economist.com/leaders/2022/12/20/our-country-of-the-year-for-2022-can-only-be-ukraine

• There are two competing words of the year for 2022. We have “goblin mode” from The Economist and “gaslighting” from Merriam-Webster https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/word-of-the-year  

• What are some other interesting words from 2022 that Merriam-Webster is tracking? Oligarch, Omicron, Codify, and…..Loamy??? See more here: https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/word-of-the-year 

• What about words that were used LESS in 2022? Vaccine, Anime, and Crypto are a few. More here: https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/comments/z87p70/oc_words_that_are_used_less_often_in_2022/ 

Segment two:

• I bet you had NO IDEA that if you visit RateThisPodcast.com/TSOE then you can [checks notes], rate this podcast! 15 seconds of time can possibly change your life.

• Who are some interesting people that we lost in 2022? Do you remember Hogan’s Heroes? We lost Robert Clary in 2022. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Clary 

• Among other things, Joseph Kittinger plunged in a free fall for 16 miles (from 102,000 feet) and we also lost him in 2022. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Kittinger 

• Peter Bogdanovich was an American director that we lost in 2022. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Bogdanovich 

• We also lost P.J. O’Rourke in 2022 and did an entire show on him. Episode 379 is here: https://www.thesoulofenterprise.com/tsoe/pj-orourke-memorable-mentors 

• For other interesting losses in 2022, here is a list from CBS News: https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/notable-deaths-in-2022/ 

Segment three:

• Our Patreon channel is at Patreon.com/TSOE and is sponsored by @90minds. Need a mind? Find one at 90minds.com!

• What was our number one show released in 2022 according to Chartable? Father Robert Sirico on the economics of the Parables, episode 395 https://www.thesoulofenterprise.com/tsoe/sirico-economics-parables 

• What was our number one show released in 2022 according to Squarespace (our hosting provider)? Our interview with Brian Terrell, episode 393 https://www.thesoulofenterprise.com/tsoe/brian-terrell-bterrell-group 

• What was our number one show of ALL TIME regardless of release date? Pricing on Purpose: Price sensitivity factors, episode 61 https://www.thesoulofenterprise.com/tsoe/september-18-2015-show-notes-pricing-on-purpose-price-sensitivity-factors 

• What are the top 15 STRIKING findings of 2022? https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2022/12/13/striking-findings-from-2022/ 

Segment four:

• What else happened in 2022? Trump’s tax returns were released. Ryan Ellis of the National Review went through them so that you don’t have to. More here: https://www.nationalreview.com/2022/12/trumps-tax-returns-are-a-dud/ 

• What other SIGNIFICANT event happened in 2022? Ron published a book!!! And he would like to say thank you to everyone that has purchased a copy. https://www.amazon.com/Times-Up-Subscription-Business-Professional/dp/1119893526/ 

• That’s a wrap! What’s coming up next week? Our best books of 2022. See you in 167 hours.

Here is a quick list of The Soul of Enterprise “best of” for 2022 based on various data points:

Listened to episodes

1. #61 - Pricing on Purpose: Price Sensitivity Factors

2. #393 - Interview with Brian Terrell

3. #64 - Famous Last Words

4. #217 - The Subscription Business Model

5. #175 - The Laws of Systems Thinking

Released in 2022 - SquareSpace

1. #393 - Interview with Brian Terrell

2. #400 - Tackling Objections to the Subscription Pricing Model

3. #381 - On David Maister's book - True Professionalism

4. #378 - Subscription Economy Update - February 2022

5. #418 - Interview with Gale Pooley - Superabundance

Released in 2022 - Chartable

1. #395 - Fifth interview with Fr. Sirico

2. #381 - On David Maister's book - True Professionalism

3. #378 - Subscription Economy Update - February 2022

4. #373 - Best Books of 2021

5. #388 - The Problem with CPE

Bonus Content is Available As Well

Did you know that each week after our live show, Ron and Ed take to the microphone for a bonus show? Typically, this bonus show is an extension of the live show topic (sometimes even with the same guest) and a few other pieces of news, current events, or things that have caught our attention.

Click the “FANATIC” image to learn more about pricing and member benefits. 

Episode #420: CPA Comedian Greg Kyte

Ed and Ron discussed the controversies surrounding behavioral economics—including some of Dan Ariely’s research. And with Greg, you never know where the conversation will go. What you do know, is it is entertaining, hilarious, and possibly even educational. Greg Kyte is one of the funniest CPA/MBA comedians out there, and Ron’s hero!

About Greg Kyte

Greg Kyte is the G. Robert Newhart Non-value-added Fellow at VeraSage Institute. In 2016 I started Exposure Drafts, a cartoon series for the accounting profession. My cartoons have been featured on GoingConcern.com, and I've created custom cartoons for Intuit and the Thriveal CPA Network. My cartoons are also available as holiday cards from RuBook Creative (rubookcreative.com). I've been performing stand up comedy since 2002, and I've brought that experience, energy, and humor to the stage as the emcee for Xero's Xerocon and Thriveal's Deeper Weekend conference, and this October to Gusto's Gusto Next conference. My experience as a comedian and as a teacher (I taught junior high math for ten years in a former life) have allowed me to create entertaining, engaging, NASBA-certified CPE content. Literally tens of thousands of CPAs have attended my fraud and behavioral ethics courses on the CPA Academy and Encoursa platforms. I've also created custom CPE content for Gusto and Xero. I'm also a licensed CPA in the State of Utah where I'm the controller for a group of medical office buildings.

Use these show notes to follow along with the audio:

Segment one:

• Our Patreon members (Patreon.com/TSOE) have paid good money to NOT hear the Greg Kyte commercials. Today, they get an entire hour of Greg! Welcome @gregkyte as our guest for episode 420.

• “I’m not going on a blind date with some accounting nerd.” That’s how Greg’s relationship with Jason Blumer (@jasonmblumer) started. And ultimately it led to ThriveCast! https://thriveal.com/thrivecast/  

• Today, Greg does "Oh My Fraud" — an irreverent podcast with Greg and blogger/former CPA Caleb Newquist (@cnewquist) https://ohmyfraud.com/ 

• Also by Greg…Drunk Ethics is a limited edition podcast on @EarmarkCPE with MBA and comedian @adambroud. The trailer is all you need to see to get excited about it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dybYTgoRjEY  

Segment two:

• Value Pricing parody! A blast from the past starring Greg Kyte: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1iuIBBkzPE 

• A scientific paper by Dan Ariely states that “signing at the beginning versus at the end does not decrease dishonesty”. It turns out this paper has been retracted. More here: https://retractionwatch.com/2021/09/14/highly-criticized-paper-on-dishonesty-retracted/ 

• It turns out that some of the data is the work that has been retracted (see previous tweet) was a combination of Calibri and Cambria which led to some interesting analysis. More here: https://datacolada.org/98 

Segment three:

• Back to this story about fraudulent data. Did you know about the fraud triangle? Greg talked about this today: opportunity, pressure, and rationalization.

• Ron mentioned The Economist and their pricing models during the show today. Here is an article that talks about it (keep in mind that The Economist no longer uses these pricing options so…..did they work???) https://cxl.com/blog/pricing-experiments-you-might-not-know-but-can-learn-from/ 

• Do you like what you hear on the show today? Do you hate what you hear? Doesn’t matter! We read all reviews on the air and it only takes you 15 seconds at this link: RateThisPodcast.com/TSOE

Segment four:

• 1/2 Ron loves this from Deidre McCloskey: Other recent neobehaviorist fashions, such as neuroeconomics and behavioral finance and happiness studies, are dubious—or, they treat creative adults like a flock of little children. 

• 2/2 [continued…] We need, they say, merely to “observe their behavior,” omitting for some reason linguistic behavior.

• “Let’s smoke some marijuana and have an out of body experience.” —Greg Kyte’s closing statement for episode 420. Folks, he’s a comedian and he’s freaking hilarious! Check out more of him here: https://www.instagram.com/gregkyte 

• A big THANK YOU to Greg Kyte for joining us today. Check out his newest podcast, Oh My Fraud!, with @cnewquist https://ohmyfraud.com/

Bonus Content is Available As Well

Did you know that each week after our live show, Ron and Ed take to the microphone for a bonus show? Typically, this bonus show is an extension of the live show topic (sometimes even with the same guest) and a few other pieces of news, current events, or things that have caught our attention.

Click the “FANATIC” image to learn more about pricing and member benefits. 

Episode #419: LIVE from the ITA 2022 Fall Collaborative

Ron and Ed always enjoy taking the show on the road and on this episode we had some of that live energy from the crowd in Austin, Texas. We talked subscription, of course… as well as other ideas relating to technology consulting. As usual, it was the fastest hour of the week!

Our Featured Guest

Brian Terrell founded BTerrell Group in 1991 and oversees management and strategy for this Dallas based provider of Sage Intacct financial management software. Sage Intacct is the only accounting application ever to be designated by the AICPA as their Preferred Provider of Financial Applications. In addition, BTerrell’s experienced developers tailor the application’s business functionality to exact customer requirements, when necessary. Born in Plainview, Texas, Brian grew up on a farm where he learned the importance of a strong work ethic and conservative principles. From there, he received his Bachelor of Science degree from Texas A&M University before starting a career with Arthur Andersen & Co. In February 1991, Brian and his wife Nancy began practicing public accounting with Terrell & Terrell, CPAs. Within a year, the firm refocused all professional services exclusively on accounting software and business automation and eventually rebranded as BTerrell Group in 2008. Brian rides 125 miles a week as an avid cyclist and ride leader for the Plano Bicycle Association. He and his wife Nancy live in Dallas and recently celebrated the birth of their third grandchild.

Bonus Content is Available As Well

Did you know that each week after our live show, Ron and Ed take to the microphone for a bonus show? Typically, this bonus show is an extension of the live show topic (sometimes even with the same guest) and a few other pieces of news, current events, or things that have caught our attention.

Click the “FANATIC” image to learn more about pricing and member benefits. 

Episode #418: Interview with Gale Pooley — Superabundance

Ron and Ed were honored to welcome Gale L. Pooley to The Soul of the Enterprise to discuss his 2022 book, co-authored with Marian L. Tupy, Superabundance: The Story of Population Growth, Innovation, and Human Flourishing on an Infinitely Bountiful Planet. We interviewed Marian Tupy on the book back on September 23, 2022 (Episode #409). This is a groundbreaking book, a new way to measure standards of living, economic dynamism, innovation, growth, and resource abundance. It's certainly in our Top 5 books for 2022. You don't want to miss this discussion.

Use these show notes to follow along with the audio

Segment one:

• The more people, the more wealth we create. In summary, of course :) Marian Tupy and Gale Pooley, co-authors of Superabundance, most definitely celebrated the arrival of the 8 BILLIONTH person on the planet recently. https://www.superabundance.com/

• Using the ideas in Superabunance, you can go to any place on the planet, at any time, with any currency and figure out the time price. This can then be compared to the time price of today which is a more accurate measurement compared to others.

• Time inequality is dramatically decreasing. People enjoy more time to themselves today than at any time before. If you think in terms of time instead of dollars this becomes an excellent starting point for Superabunance.

• In Superabundance, Marian and Gale want us to move beyond “atoms and money” to knowledge and time. This is knowledge stacking and here’s a snippet from the book that speaks more to this https://bit.ly/3XUYP76

Segment two:

• “This universe is finite, its resources, finite.” —Thanos, Infinity War. Well…the first part of Thanos’ statement is true. However, resources are a function not of atoms but a function of knowledge. We are not limited in the discovery and creation of knowledge.

• A piano has 88 keys. Here’s a trick question: How many songs are in a piano? Zero. There are no songs in a piano. The songs are in the minds of human beings.

• Here’s the Superabundance analogy: The size of a slice in pizza is your individual personal resource abundance. The size of the entire pizza is when you put all the individuals together. Both the slice AND the pizza are getting bigger.

Segment three:

• “Ants don’t innovate.” This is easily the best thing Gale said today during the show. It makes a LOT of sense if you read the first chapter in Superabundance. More at this link: https://www.amazon.com/Superabundance-Population-Innovation-Flourishing-Infinitely-ebook/dp/B0B196K1XT

• An increase in knowledge is non-rivalrous. As we increase our knowledge individually, everyone benefits.

• For those that already own the book Superabundance, one of Ed’s favorite graphics from the book is box 8.4 labeled “Calculating the calculation costs”. Enjoy!

• There are two significant categories in which products are becoming LESS abundant. One usually involves the government on the supply or demand side and the other is typically a status product (in which less abundance is the point).

Segment four:

• “Abundance is a function of population and freedom to innovate.” —Gale Pooley

• “Human flourishing grows when there are more people because more people means more innovation.” —Gale Pooley

• A big THANK YOU to Gale Pooley for joining us today. You need to check out Superabundance (which may make the “best of” TSOE book list this year). Here is the link: https://www.amazon.com/Superabundance-Population-Innovation-Flourishing-Infinitely-ebook/dp/B0B196K1XT

Bonus Content is Available As Well

Did you know that each week after our live show, Ron and Ed take to the microphone for a bonus show? Typically, this bonus show is an extension of the live show topic (sometimes even with the same guest) and a few other pieces of news, current events, or things that have caught our attention.

Click the “FANATIC” image to learn more about pricing and member benefits. 

Episode Reprise — Scroogenomics: Why You Shouldn’t Buy Presents for the Holidays

[Editor’s Note: Some things are just too good not to share again. While our most ardent listeners are familiar with Episode #22, Scroogenomics, many may not be familiar with this specific show. This past Friday was Black Friday in the United States which means it’s time - once again - to talk about why you shouldn’t buy presents. Bah, humbug!!!]

[Additional Editor’s Note: Coincidentally, this year the replay of the Scroogenomics episode pairs quite well with last week’s episode featuring Professor Tony Gill in which we discussed the benefits of gift giving in the broader economy. Two shows, two different perspectives.]

On Black Friday, and right before Cyber Monday—the biggest shopping days of the year—Ed and Ron thought it would be fun to discuss the interesting, funny, and thought-provoking book by Joel Waldfogel: Scroogenomics: Why You Shouldn’t Buy Presents for the Holidays.

The author makes the case that the deadweight loss to the economy from gift giving, in 2007, totaled $12 billion, out of approximately $66.5 Billion spent (about 12%). Citizens Against Government Waste would classify Christmas as a wasteful government program.

Gift giving severs link between buying decision and item’s value to its user—the transaction actually destroys value. To add insult to injury, we are obliged to pretend to be grateful!

His complaint is not the level of spending or the consumption, but the waste.

We discussed the four ways you can spend money in the economy:

Former Congressman Dick Armey pointed out how difficult spending is in Category II (Gift), let alone Category IV (Government):

Every year, I worry and fret select the right birthday gift for my wife, Susan. Every year, try as I might, I manage to choose the wrong thing. If I can’t figure the needs and desires of the one person who is closest to me in the world and who I deeply love and care for, how can we expect the government to do a better job?

Three groups spend other people’s money: children, thieves, politicians. All three need parental supervision.

Hierarchy of value of gift giving

• Aunts & uncles & grandparents = 75%

• Parents = 97%

• Friends =91%

• Siblings =99%

• Significant others = 102%

Further, we spend approximately 2.8 billion hours shopping in December. To put that number in context, the old USSR—before it imploded—spent 35 billion hours annually standing in line for everyday products and services.

Infographic from Deloitte’s 2018 annual holiday survey

Economist Ian Ayres said this about Waldfogel’s book:

Joel Waldfogel is one of the smartest and funniest economists on the planet. I think of him every time I start to unwrap a present. Buy Scroogenomics for your friends and family. It makes the perfect Christmas gift.