Collaboration is everything! In today's fast moving environment, it is no longer what you know but who you know and how well you can access them. Add the pressure to innovate and the constant addition of new strategic initiatives and the need for engagement and alignment. These new challenges require new tools. ThinkTank by Group Systems is one of those tools - it is a web-based structured collaboration platform that we use at MACPA-BLI. This presentation covers three case studies where we have used ThinkTank to help a CPA Firm engage partners in a strategic discussion about sensitive issues and to encourage full participation, another example is how we use ThinkTank for managing partner calls to get feedback and vote on key issues we should be working on, and finally a situation involving a CFO conference where ThinkTank was used to facilitate capturing of insights and wisdom from the crowd. We believe that in order to buy-in, people have to weigh-in and structure collaboration is a way to effectively get participation and engagement that ultimately saves time, increases alignment and the discretionary effort of your people.

1. “In the long history of humankind
(and animal kind, too) those who
learned to collaborate and
improvise most effectively have
prevailed.”
Charles Darwin

2. Three ThinkTank
Case Studies:
A Structured Approach to Strategic
Planning
April 22, 2015

3. Our Presenters
Jonathan Ross
Product Manager
ThinkTank
§ Customer and Quality centric PM who has launched software in Agile delivery methodology
§ Joined ThinkTank in early 2015 after 4 years as a Technical Product Manager with GHX,
healthcare supply-chain software firm
§ Former analyst with Accenture
Tom Hood
CEO
Maryland Association of CPAs
§ Named Second Most Influential in Accounting by Accounting Today Magazine
§ Top 150 Influencer by Linked-In, Top 25 Influencers in Learning & HR by HR Examiner, CPA
Practice Adviser Accounting Hall of Fame, Top 25 Public Accounting Thought Leaders by CPA
Practice Adviser
§ Working on Learning Management with AICPA/CPA2Biz, Cloud Curriculum, Performance
Management /XBRL, Leadership & Generations
Amy Stumme
Certified Professional Coactive Coach
Maryland Association of CPAs
§ Certified in the I2A strategic planning process
§ Clifton StrengthsFinder and the VIA Character Strengths assessments
§ Certified ThinkTank Session Leader
§ BS University of Pittsburgh

4. Special Guests
Kimberly Wines
Manager/Director of Human Resources
Smith Elliott Kearns & Company, LLC
§ Joined in 1989
§ Provides consulting services throughout Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia
§ SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP)
§ HRC Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR)
§ Accredited Administrator in Accounting Practice Management (AAAPM)
§ i2a Strategic Thinking System (Certified Meeting Facilitator)
Amy Weinreich
VP, Finance and Administration
Publishers Circulation Fulfillment
§ Joined in 2007
§ 20+ years of management and finance experience
§ Served as MACPA Business & Industry Committee Chairperson for the past two years
§ Co-founded MACPA financial leadership forum series
Vince Nesline
President
Stoy, Malone & Company
§ Focuses on closely-held businesses and their owners
§ University of Maryland, Bachelor of Science, Accounting
§ Georgetown University, Master of Science, Taxation

5. The Big Enterprise Problem
88%
of executives say executing strategic change
successfully will be essential or very important for
competitiveness
of strategies are not successfully
implemented.
70%Yet
Sources: Economist Intelligence Unit survey
and Conference Board survey, Harvard
Business Review, McKinsey

6. Why Do Strategic Initiatives Fail?
Source: Economist Intelligence Unit survey
- No Change Management45%
46% - Lack of Engagement
72% - Poor Alignment

7. Three Pillars for Breakthrough Results
Structured
Collabora.on
Open,
Honest
Engagement
Secure
Cloud
Pla9orm

8. Structured Collaboration
Cloud Infrastructure
Collaboration-as-a-Service for Strategic Initiatives
Voting/Analysis
RT Messaging
File Sharing
Slide Sharing
Social Activities
Tools
Activities
Processes
Audit
Resource
Plan
Assess
Gather
Manage Risk &
Compliance
Budgeting
Manage
Strategy
Governance
Manage
Change

9. Open, Honest Engagement
Bored
Intimidated
Passively Listening
Executive Dominate
Discussion
Open
Honest
Actively Contributing
Anonymity
Leader Stimulates
Discussion

10. Secure Cloud Platform
• ThinkTank uses multiple ISO, SOC2, and SOC3
certified data centers around the globe
• Data is encrypted at rest and in transit
• Every major release undergoes security testing to
assure OWASP certification

11. ThinkTank enables organizations to execute strategic
initiatives 70-90% faster, better, and more efficiently.

12. Three ThinkTank Case Studies:
A Structured Approach to
Strategic Planning
Tom Hood, CPA, CITP, CGMA
Amy Stumme, CPCC
Maryland Association of CPAs
Business Learning Institute

13. What do you notice?

14. The Problem

15. The Solution

16. “In order to buy-in,
people have to weigh-in.”
Pat Lencioni

17.
“CEOs have a new strategy in the unending war
for talent. They are creating more open and
collaborative cultures — encouraging employees
to connect, learn from each other and thrive in a
world of rapid change.
Collaboration is the number-one trait CEOs are
seeking in their employees.”
IBM
Global
CEO
Study

18. “None
of
us
is
as
smart
as
all
of
us.”
Dr.
Ken
Blanchard

19. “The organizations that will become the
household names of this century will be
renowned for sustained, large-scale,
efficient innovation.
The key to that capability is neither
company loyalty nor free-agent
autonomy but, rather, a strong
collaborative community.”
Harvard Business Review
The collaboration curve
is replacing the experience curve

20. Three Case Studies
§ Participation
§ Engagement
§ Trust
§ Discretionary Effort

21. Three Case Studies
Case Study 1: Maryland Managing Partners
§ Challenge: Bring together a diverse group of Managing Partners of
CPA firms from across the Maryland/DC area on a quarterly basis.
§ Solution: Quarterly ThinkTank sessions that inform this stakeholder
group on the legislative issues and also get their feedback on the
issues that matter most to them.
§ Results: Increased participation, increased engagement and better
communication to the entire group using the ThinkTank report from
each session.

22. Three Case Studies
Case Study 2: Smith Elliott Kearns Partner Retreat
§ Challenge: Create engagement and build trust in the firm partner group.
§ Solution: Host a ThinkTank session during SEK Partner Retreat to have
the partners weigh in on a variety of topics & issues.
§ Results: Each of the partners was able to participate openly and honestly
and contribute to the overall discussion in a more powerful way.

23. Three Case Studies
Case Study 3: MACPA Business & Industry Conference
§ Challenge: Create engagement with the attendees at our 2014 Business &
Industry Conference
§ Solution: We hosted a ThinkTank with all attendees as the final conference
session to engage them in a conversation about the topics and issues that
matter most to them.
§ Results: All conference attendees had an opportunity to talk about the
challenges they are facing, how they are addressing these and their biggest
take-aways from the conference.

24. “In the long history of humankind (and
animal kind, too) those who learned to
collaborate and improvise most
effectively have prevailed.”
Charles Darwin

26. Thank You!
www.thinktank.net
info@thinktank.net
Americas +1 303 468 8680
Europe +46 84 030 9910
Africa +27 10 500 9078
Maryland Association
of CPAs (MACPA)
www.macpa.org
Business Learning
Institute (BLI)
www.blionline.org