Funny thing about time

I know it has been a while since my last post. I find that blogging is a habit that is easily set aside when other things come up. I guess I am back in the saddle, but I would like to make a pitch for an excuse on why I have been away. I started writing a third book. That’s right; there is more for me to say. I didn’t want to write another book. However, I wanted to continue to support the Argument to Automate and The 8 Pitfalls, but I promised myself that I would keep writing as long as I had something relevant to say.

Here is the funny thing about time. I got the notion that both books were missing something. I wrote The 8 Pitfalls with the idea that people were looking for advice on how not to mess up transitioning from a paper-based process to an automated process. I wrote The Argument to Automate to help people answer the question, “Why automate?” One of the most compelling answers to that question is tied to a term that I have coined, “new time”. When companies start to realize how much time they will truly save by eliminating manual tasks, the question then becomes what to do with all of the time that is freed up by automation. In 2012 I was asked 31 times to speak to groups about topics from both of my books. However, the 31 times pales in comparison to the over 500 one-on-one conversations I had about automation. With activity like that I was able to float some ideas around, and get a lot of opinions on the material (I always tell my kids that opinions are like feet, most people have at least one and sometimes they stink).  Upon floating (that sounds weird) the ideas around with others, my ideas became validated and mature. My biggest revelation was that I was missing an important piece of the puzzle– the advocate.

“The Advocate” sounds like a crime solving do-gooder that makes a small living on cable. However, I am very excited about this idea because it grew naturally from the two other books. While, the mildly famous cable star could be promising, for my purposes “The Advocate” is a person, or a group, that has the vision and drives the change from a paper process to an automated process. The concept of “The Advocate” is the core topic of my third book, Payments Automation Means No Paper. I struggled with the title, because if the book is about the role of the advocate then why wouldn’t I name it, Automation and the inspiring story of the Advocate? (1) That’s a stupid title and (b) the book is about more than just “The Advocate”. (I hope you know someone who uses the 1 and b in conversation or the A and 2.  If you do, then you are laughing. If you don’t, then be mindful with your list making in a public conversation). The new book uses four things to help companies improve their current automation processes or go from paper to automated. They are:

1. Gather Data
2. Create a Plan
3. The Advocate
4. Good Advice

Next week I am going to go into more detail about these four topics, and provide more context with some real world examples.

If you’d like to learn more, then join me for my webinar on April 10 at 2:00pm EST. – click here to register

Buy the book – The Argument to Automate – How Innovation Can INSPIRE Not Fire – click here to buy

(Also) To get your copy of The 8 Pitfalls of Accounts Payable Automation – click here to buy

For more information go to www.costperinvoice.com