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For the past year or so I have heard many friends and colleagues wax ecstatic about their snazzy new smartphones. Oh, the things you can do with this phone, they would exclaim. Meanwhile, eyes in mid-roll, I would gently pat the decidedly un-smartphone resting in my pocket and assure it that, despite the lack of any discernible bell or whistle, its future with me was secure.
Not quite forty years old yet, but droplets of old geezer blood already coursing through my veins, “Mine still dials just like yours does," I would retort. "All my phone's buttons are still in the same place as that fancy whozamawhatzit you're holding there.” "Ole' Bessy here works just fine for me, sonny-boy!” "Cutting edge? Poppy-cock!"
Then a funny thing happened on my road to employ with WebFilings: Health care coverage, check. 401k, check. Comprehensive dental, check. Expense account, check. Company-paid iPhone 4…check?
“Now wait a second, let me see that thing…”
“Um, wow, I didn’t know phones could do that…”
“…or that…”
“…and the resolution…it…it’s so clear…”
(tears now collecting in the corners of my eyes)
“…are you serious, there is an app for that too? Oh my god, dude, look at what my new phone can do! Where has this thing been all my life?!?! Yippee! I'm born again world, born again!”
In business, like in life, we fall into our comfort zones. Our daily routine becomes rife with dilemma, Catch 22, and cliché.
We must work to relieve the stress of financial burden, but work in and of itself is often quite stressful.
We are much too busy to nurture habits that could perhaps make us less busy.
And one of my all-time favorites, If it ain’t broke, then why fix it?
The problems here with such doctrine are twofold:
1) We overlook the flaws of the familiar
2) We disregard the advantages of the unfamiliar
The lesson I recently learned with my smartphone is the same lesson WebFilings customers are learning with their SEC reporting and filing process, especially in the face of somewhat daunting XBRL mandates.
Maybe business-as-usual was getting the job done. Maybe the status quo satisfied the needs of both organization and shareholder. But to paraphrase myself above, Dude, look at what my new SEC reporting and filing solution can do!
To save your organization money – immediately.
To save you and your reporting team time – WebFilings is currently shaving 3 to 7 days off the time to file for our customers.
To embrace the innovation of a dynamic, forward-thinking company.
To find that better way to do things and smash the status quo.
You can know what you don’t know. All you need to do is ask.