PowerSource Solutions

05/09/2023

AI: Threat or the Next Productivity Transformation Tool?

I was listening to the local morning radio station last week as I was getting ready for work. I heard the news reader say that IBM was going to pause hiring approximately 7,800 new employees in back-office positions – as the CEO thought the jobs could be replaced by AI.

I started to smile, as it brought me back to my early days at IBM. At the time, mainframe computers were all we had, the PC and server computers had yet to appear, Bill Gates was in high school, and Yahoo was a not so kind name to apply to certain individuals. We were constantly conducting long-range capacity planning to support the introduction of future families of computers.

It was almost a given that a brand-new manufacturing facility was required for expansion within the next five years. I learned in a subsequent position in HQ’s that this new expansion location need was not unique to Poughkeepsie, in fact almost every IBM manufacturing location had a similar need for aa growth location to meet anticipated demand.

Most fascinating, I was told that an earlier IBM corporate strategic projected that within five years IBM would need to hire every high school graduate in the United States to meet their manufacturing workload requirements. Really, though I am not sure this was fact or legend!

So, with hindsight we know IBM did not become the universal employer. What happened? A very powerful factor intervened – productivity. Increased use of two and three shift operations, requiring and getting productivity in indirect employee departments, and the introduction of the PC became a massive productivity tool. I was the CFO of a large research and manufacturing facility with 10,000 employees in the mid 1980s. As we introduced PCs into our location, we required each department to reduce their staffing levels by one headcount for every three PCs added to their department.

One productivity area IBM completely missed was the reuse of recently obsolete computers returned from customers. When the next faster, better generation of computers was introduced, the customers would upgrade to new equipment and return their leased computers to IBM. Approximately 80% of the high-end computers were leased rather than purchased. The company had very clever manufacturing engineers, and they started to introduce the returned computers to control manufacturing equipment previously manually operated by direct employees.

So, back to the beginning, why did I smile when I heard the IBM news on the radio? During my working career, IBM moved from potentially requiring every high school graduate as employees to pausing the hiring of the next 7,800 employees – due to the application of new technology for further productivity.

What will AI bring? I’m still exploring the big picture, but I think we all should consider how AI will impact our organizations to ensure we remain competitive and productive.

For more detail, please read the complete article at:

This article discusses the role of technology in productivity trends.

04/12/2023

PowerSource First Quarter Recap

Once upon a time I was an executive in public companies, and the idea of a public quarterly report became second nature. Using the same approach for our privately-held company, we thought we would report quarterly as well. We had a busy first quarter with the relaunch of PowerSource Solutions. I enjoyed getting in touch with a number of individuals, and I particularly appreciate the support and advice from Dale Powell, Karen Roche, Dale Grossman, and many others.

We celebrated the addition of our first 2023 client, advised a biotech firm on strategic alternatives, and developed a business plan for a new digital venture. We continue to engage in business development to grow our fractional, outsource Controller and CFO services. Please take a look at our website for more details.

Our new website (https://pssconsult.com) was launched, and we followed through on our promise to provide professional articles in our areas of passion: management and leadership, technology, and striving for ethical success. All told, we published 11 articles on our web site and cross-promoted then on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter accounts. Again, thanks to Kerry Moynihan for providing several of the articles. We encourage those of you with experiences to share to write that article you just don’t seem time to start (or finish). We would happily host your article on our website and promote it to our social network. We’ve commented on must-read articles by Michele Guillermin and Lisa Gable, and modestly grew our followers.

We are excited with the opportunities in 2Q2023, and hope to have some interesting announcements during the quarter. Thanks for your support and interest.

04/05/2023

Are Nonprofits Really Different?

Someone once told me, “Bart, you don’t understand nonprofits.” Interesting insight - probably would have been helpful to have also been told the why or what that formed the basis for the conclusion.

I’ve been following Michelle Guillermin on LinkedIn, particularly her posts on the state of and challenges facing nonprofits. My background is largely in the private sector, with one very fulfilling nonprofit experience at the Food Allergy Research & Education organization. Maybe that individual was correct, so I decided to do some research and personal education.

In my for-profit experience, three key communities were joined somewhat like a Venn diagram—customers, shareholders, and employees. With the probable exception of employee compensation, there are close parallels between for-profit and nonprofit organizations: Customers=Recipients of services, Shareholders=Donors, and Employees=Employees.

So maybe I really didn’t understand nonprofits with my background – but that raises the question, what must anyone understand to be successful in the nonprofit sector? So, off I went with a series of Google searches to find enlightenment.

I really enjoyed an article in Harvard Business Review written by Dr. Arthur C. Brooks, “AEI’s President on Measuring the Impact of Ideas, (March-April 2018)”, who went from teaching public policy at Syracuse University to becoming the President of the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). He asserts that nonprofits should not be measured on Outputs or Inputs, but on Impact.

After the HBR article, I decided to expand my research to other articles in search of my personal answer.

I found a Forbes magazine article based on comments from the Forbes Nonprofit Council. (Forbes Magazine, 12 Effective Ways to Operate a Nonprofit like a For-Profit Business, March 7, 2018). My brief summary of the 12 points:
1) Revenue rules, and diversifying sources of revenue is essential.
2) Beware of spending more than you raise – your Board will quickly explain to you the issues with recurring deficits.
3) Treat the money provided by donors and other contributors as special, spend it with care, and treat your donors with care.
4) Use data and market research before you make decisions, particularly decisions with multi-year funding requirements and that require growth in your internal fixed costs.

As I circle back to where we started, I still believe that I understand nonprofits and how they should be led.

I am interested in your comments.

In this article we will explore if nonprofits are unique in their approach to Impact and Ex*****on, or do they share many similarities with their for-profit cousins. We will also discuss the role of Impact in measuring the success of nonprofits, and we coin the phrases Impact IQ and Fiscal IQ.

03/31/2023

I was watching Season 2 of the Morning Show on Apple TV a few months ago, and it was fascinating to watch them weave Covid-19 into the season. It went from some low-newsworthy event in China to completely transforming the broadcast news industry within weeks.

For those of us who were leaders and managers from March 2020 through the Spring/Summer of 2021, our skills and imagination were tested every day. We learned how to use new essential collaboration tools such as Zoom, Teams, Slack, and other software applications. Cloud-based enterprise software and data services for accounting, human resources, budgeting and planning, sales, and marketing – became must have essential tools in all functional areas. Organization-owned, server-based VoIP systems and other ‘essential’ services became costly artifacts of the pre-Covid, in-office work environments. If you weren’t in the Cloud, you were in for challenges to continue meeting customer and stakeholder requirements.

Now we are in a new normal, with remote working continuing to be an important element of the human resources programs and expectations. A Gallup survey in June of 2022 found that 8 in 10 people are working hybrid or remote, while only 2 in 10 are entirely on-site. They updated the survey in January 2023, and they stated the work from home experiment will reach equilibrium with:
· 55% hybrid workers
· 22% fully remote workers
· 23% fully on-site.
Equally startling, fully on-sites do not feel closer their organization’s culture. In fact, hybrid workers identified most positively to the organization’s culture.
And an AT&T study found the hybrid work model is expected to grow from 42% in 2021 to 81% in 2024. Employees are eager to continue working remotely or hybrid (Dec 8, 2022).

So, most of us will need to continue to effectively manage our teams in some form of remote environment. I thought it made sense to identify the six key lessons learned to operate successfully when your employees are not in your direct line of site every day, all day.

The focus of this article will be more inward focus with respect to the organization. We found, with some experimentation and continuous research, that the following six management techniques were essential:
· Watercooler virtual meetings
· Project deliverable focus with each employee
· Extra effort to reach peers, to avoid creating silos
· Schedule periodic in-person meetings for groups
· Cloud technology essential,
· Less hovering, more collaborative management style.
I believe the lessons learned during remote and hybrid working have direct and indirect benefits for most industry sectors. As the US finds most jobs and job growth in the service’s sector, becoming world-class with remote working is a skill all organizations need to develop.

For a deeper read, please go to the linked article.

In this article we will discuss six Remote Working Lessons to Remember and apply in all work modes.

03/27/2023

NCAA March Madness -- down to the final Four improbable teams. As teams fell to the wayside, I thought of a bit of Snell family history and the importance of recognizing all contributors on a team. My youngest son, Phil, was finishing 8th grade and asked my advice on what he could do to make his freshman year at high school more successful.

Phil, of course chose the sport he was least prepared to play with immediate success—freshman football. Having never played organized football, we were surprised by his choice. The team had a new coach who apparently saw an unbeaten season as his ticket to personal future greatness.

At the kickoff for the start of the final game Phil had yet to step onto the field for a single play. All those practices, an unbeaten season, it appeared the coach was clearly burnishing his resume.

By the 4th quarter Phil’s team had a four-touchdown lead. And, an increasingly active rebellion was taking place around Phil with his teammates. With 15 seconds to go in the final game of the season, Phil put on his helmet and trotted onto the field to cheers from his fans. He lined up in the halfback position, took a handoff from the quarterback, and gained eight yards as time expired. His only play of his life.

Recently, I watched Chase Coleman walk to midcourt with his parents before the start of the UVA home game to receive his public recognition at the final appearance of his collegiate career. Chase played infrequently during the season, and as the game started, he was again on the bench.

With about two minutes left in the game and a substantial lead, the student section started to chant: “Chase”, “Chase”, “Chase”. The chant became louder as more fans joined in around the arena. Coach Bennett, a gentleman of the first order and a beloved figure in Charlottesville, seemed to take no notice of the chant that was increasingly dominating the arena. Finally, with a minute left, he waved down the bench and Chase entered the game. You can imagine the excitement in the arena when someone passed the ball to Chase, and he immediately took and made a 3-point shot! What was a fun but ordinary college basketball game became a lifetime memory and lesson for 15,000 people in the arena.

Competition in sports or in the workplace isn’t always about having a team made up of Most Valuable Players. In any sport or assignment, sometimes just showing up is what makes the difference. Phil’s and Chase’s role were not to be starters, but to help the team in practice daily learn and grow. So, being in the spotlight wasn’t their place on game day. But they did make lasting impressions and friends.

If we look more closely at the people showing up to workday-in and day-out, we might find your Phil or Chase, and have through them have a truer understanding of commitment, loyalty, and grace.

Let’s salute the millions of people who go to work every day, show up, make their contribution, making it possible for the team to be successful.

03/23/2023

In this article, we explore the important role of the ‘unsung heroes’ who show up every day, every practice and make it possible for the team to succeed.

https://articles.pssconsult.com/4zv3brxb

In this article, we explore the important role of the ‘unsung heroes’ who show up every day, every practice and make it possible for the team to succeed.

02/09/2023

In this article we share a spirited panel discussion on the boundaries of fair and equitable executive compensation, a panel including Kerry Moynihan and others.

A spirited panel discussion on the boundaries of fair and equitable executive compensation, a panel inluding Kerry Moynihan.

02/07/2023

In this article we explore Corporate Social Responsibility, or CSR, is both important for the sustainability of the world’s resources, and for corporations’ financial health. From Directors Monthly.

Corporate Social Responsibility, or CSR, is both important for the sustainability of the world’s resources, and for corporations’ financial health. From Directors Monthly.

01/26/2023

In this article we explore becoming a director on a Board of Directors is not an easy decision after Sarbanes-Oxley. Here are nine issues to consider. We would like to thank Kerry Moynihan and ZRG Partners for creating the original article.




Becoming a director on a Board of Directors is not an easy decision after Sarbanes-Oxley. Here are nine issues to consider.

01/24/2023

In this article we explore board governance with controlled company boards and suggest they are often at the cutting edge of good governance.

Controlled company boards are often at the cutting edge of good governance.

01/19/2023

This article is the fourth in our Harmony series, and discusses the six key elements of a compensation system to harmonize with management and measurement systems.

Connects the compensation to the Management & Measurements systems; and discusses core elements for effective compensation systems.

01/17/2023

This article is part of the continuing series, How to harmonize management, measurement, and compensation systems for sustained growth. In this article, we discuss the 8 keys to strong measurement systems and related dashboard implementation.
https://tinyurl.com/cxj55kew

Discusses the keys to strong measurement systems and related dashboard implementation.