The Diffusion of a New Idea
by Ronald J. Baker
One of the greatest pains to human nature is the pain of a new idea.
–Walter Bagehot
There are two ideas that are killing our profession: Pricing by the hour and maintaining timesheets. They are stifling growth, wealth creation and innovation, inhibiting customer service, destroying morale and the quality of life, not to mention making the accounting profession less attractive to potential students. Even more disturbing, the consultants to the profession––supposedly the “change agents”––are playing a significant role in perpetuating this death spiral.