One of my first editors was a wizened veteran of business
to business publishing, who never got technology. And I don’t mean writing
algorithms, but even using Microsoft Word on a PC. Instead, he would employ a
rustic Corona manual typewriter to draft his stories and columns - using only
his two index fingers at warp speed- and then instruct his exasperated
assistant to re-key the stories on her computer.
Nevertheless, he would occasionally attempt to make the
switch to his computer, but after a few minutes, he would frustratingly bellow
for help, a cry that was heard clearly around the newsroom.
Not surprisingly when a new publisher came on board
bringing with him a plan to modernize the news and sales departments, it was
clear that the editor was going to be one of the first casualties of the new
regime.
He hung on for nearly a year before the inevitable axe
fell and was summarily replaced by someone nearly 30 years younger and far more
familiar with technology and its future in publishing.
I’m sure we all have similar and often sad vignettes. But
I am always amazed that it so often occurs when technology is involved – either
directly or peripherally. When desktop publishing came to the mainstream, I was
a witness to an entire staff of typesetters being shown the door, pink slips in
hand.
Now I've written in this space many times about my rather
superficial understanding of all things technology, but not once I have ever
overlooked or understated its importance.
Which is why it’s astonishing the degree of resistance
that some CPA firms show regarding IT. I’ve sat with managing partners who did
not even have a computer on their desks – now let that image in 21st
century accounting sink in for a while. I thought that was an anomaly until
exactly two weeks later I visited a firm in the Northeast and saw the exact
same thing. It’s probably not a stretch to understand why these two firms were
struggling to grow and were looking for any available suitor.
And now with the advent of blockchain, AI and machine
learning, that will force many multi-partner firms to evolve with them – making
the gradual switch to become more of a consulting entity rather than a basic commodity
provider for Type A audit and tax work.
Nearly 20 years ago, I sat in on a session at a
conference where the presenter was a noted futurist who warned the audience in
no uncertain terms, “Those who do not keep pace with technology will be left
behind, period.”
Sadly, you need only ask my old editor for proof of that.
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