Parental Education

I'm finally getting around to porting some pictures from the hard drive on Brenna's laptop to Picasa so I can utilize them here or on Facebook. You would think that should be simple, but it's a daunting task to take on all of the photos on Brenna's hard drive. One can get lost for days reviewing all those memories. It's amazing how she's managed to capture so much of our lives. Choosing only a few of the photos almost makes me feel guilty!

At any rate, I've been wanting to get this photo onto my machine for some time now. This was taken on Father's Day last year, and it reminds me how lucky I am to be a Dad with children who love me. I try hard to be worthy of their love, but I know I fall short in many areas. It's simply a testament to the ability of children to love unconditionally.

As the youngest child in my family with my nearest sibling being 5 1/2 years older than I, I grew up not having to share my things or experiencing what it's like to have a younger brother or sister always wanting to tag along or pester. If anything, I was the one doing the pestering. Translating all of this into the life of an adult meant that I wasn't sure how I would fare with the responsibilities of fatherhood. The good news is that as a family we're helping each other and learning from each other.

The other night I heard Savannah lose her temper with Madison. Pretty common stuff, but it really struck me as to how much Savannah sounded like me when speaking to Madison while frustrated. So, I said to Savannah in my parentally patient voice, "Savannah, I know you learned that from me, but try to do better than your dad." I was amazed and appreciative at her quick reaction. She has a real capacity to be kind and a leader, but she simply needed a gentle reminder. It made me think how easy it should be for me to maintain patience and speak soothingly instead of becoming angry and raising my voice.

I enjoy these little rewards of parenting so much. It's the learning that the children bring into my life that really makes me grateful for the opportunity to be a dad. And then, you have days like the one in the photo where they sit on your chest, and for those moments you know life can't get any better. When those perfect moments come along it almost makes me feel like I'm stealing.

And now we know that child number four will be another little girl. Hunter was a bit disappointed, as he was hoping for a brother, but he quickly got over it, and we're all anxiously awaiting her arrival in early May. A father to four? Yep, and I couldn't be happier!

Fair Value

I am a corporate CPA and heavily involved in the world of revenue recognition. I know, I know...BORING! I can't blame anyone for reacting with that thought. For those outside the curious little world of rev rec it is, no doubt, boring. For those of us inside the asylum, however, life is never boring.

For those on the outside let me give a brief explanation as to why it is never boring, and then I will delve into the specifics of my thoughts for today.

For a company to survive in the long run it must make more money than it spends--no shocker there. Money is made when products and/or services are sold. In order to make a sale a company generally relies on its sales force. Folks who work in sales are paid on a commission model--the more you sell, the more you get paid. Simple enough so far. Well, a company can do all sorts of things with its commission model to incent its sales force to sell various items with more or less fervor. And, as you might expect, in large companies the commission model can become so complex that occasionally situations will arise where it appears the company is actually rewarding behavior that is contrary to the goals of the organization.

Sales folks are not dumb--like you and me they want to get paid as much as possible for the work they do. So they study the sales plan and the commission model and determine the best way to make the most amount of money. With a good commission model that will result in lots of revenue for the company. However, with a suspect commission model that can result in any number of unforeseen outcomes.

On top of all that you get to layer in Generally Accepted Accounting Principles--GAAP. Truth be told, even insiders often have a difficult time navigating the labyrinthine halls of GAAP revenue recognition. There are so many nuances to the guidance and strata to the guidance hierarchy that for those not trained in the craft a herculean effort is required to gain even a rudimentary understanding of the rules.

What this often leads to is a commission model that makes sense to the lay person and seems to have the best interests of the company (and the sales person) at heart. However, rare is the time that those who derive the commission model understand the havoc that GAAP will wreak on the timing of revenue recognition for any given transaction. Thus, a sales person will think she has made a sale that will net her $30,000 in the quarter. All too often, however, GAAP will require a deferral of the revenue for reasons that will seldom make sense to the sales force. So, you have the never ending friction of the sales person wanting to get a pound of flesh from the accountant, and the accountant wanting the sales person to stop being so self centered and ego centric. Good times! So, it's rarely boring.

My thought for the day is that this is troublesome because it frequently leads to the sales force acting against the best interests of the company. For instance, sales person X might sell a product for 100K and recognize an opportunity to sell additional services with that product. So, X dives in deeper, negotiates with the customer and comes away with two additional services deliverables for another 50K. Company is ecstatic. 100K of revenue now (when the product is delivered) and 50K in the future (when the services are delivered). X feels great because instead of netting 10K in the quarter, he is now netting 15K. Customer is happy because the services are value add and will improve their infrastructure and ability to service their own customers in the long run.

Well, not so fast. Depending on the deliverables and numerous company-internal factors, GAAP may require that the 100K of product revenue be deferred until the services are delivered. So, now there is 0K of revenue this quarter and X receives $0 just in time for Christmas. Once X gets his hand slapped like that one time he learns quickly. Next quarter a different customer wants the same 100K product plus 50K of additional services. X says we can give you the product, but the services are out of scope. Why? He wants his comp today. Maybe he has multipliers in the current quarter, maybe he's buying a new home and needs the $ for the down payment. Could be lots of reasons, but the long and the short is that the company just missed out on 50K of additional revenue over time because the compensation plan was not aligned with GAAP and the various types (and combinations) of products and services being sold.

This is a very high level view of the issue. Lots of layers and arguments on both sides of the issue, but suffice to say that it usually ends up being very messy. Believe it or not revenue recognition is quite a fascinating frontier if you are familiar with the issues. Plenty of work to be done here.

Freedom requires religion

I've spent a little time reading comments and blogs regarding Mitt Romney's speech this morning. Let me start by saying that when he finished I turned to my wife and said, "I would be happy to hear that speech from any candidate." As a person of faith, I guess that is easy for me to say. Obviously his speech was very friendly to the religiously-minded and to those who like the idea of religion and faith playing a more prominent role in our society--not government, but society.

What has struck me is the number of individuals commenting or blogging who are concerned or outright threatened by Mitt's statement, "Freedom requires religion." That quote is taken from part of a larger statement--"Freedom requires religion, just as religion requires freedom. Freedom opens the windows of the soul so that man can discover his most profound beliefs and commune with God. Freedom and religion endure together, or perish alone."

Many of the opinions I have seen expressed in the public forum indicate Mitt's statement completely devalues atheists or others who don't practice religion. They make him out to be a dangerous theocrat and/or lunatic who will only advance the cause of the religious right and disregard all others. A few examples from posters at CNN.com:

"Freedom requires religion? Grrrr.....So, the faithless don't deserve freedom?"

"True freedom is freedom from religion. Freedom from believing in magical fairy tales with a happy ending and instead pursuing where we came from without mysticism."

"This guy is the same man as what we already have. Open your eyes! We need someone who will acknowledge that you can believe what you want but who won't push their own view upon us. I AM an atheist but yet I have to listen to someone like Mitt tell me that it's wrong? I find that wrong!"

"'Freedom requires religion.' What a stupid statement. If this man gets elected we can expect more of the same stupidity in the White House that we have now. Just as religion is not required to live a fair and just existence, nor is it required for anything else."

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In my mind these individuals have incorrectly interpreted the point Mitt was making. I don't believe Mitt was referring to individuals. Rather, I believe he was referring to society. Individuals absolutely have the right to choose whether to believe in God and/or hold to the tenets of a religion. If certain individuals choose the path of atheism or of abstaining from organized religion then that is their right, and they should be respected in that right. However, to believe that a free society could operate effectively without religion is folly. Freedom does, indeed, require religion. To cite one example the communist USSR pursued a policy of religious intolerance, and we can all agree that freedom is not one of the adjectives that would be used to describe that society.

The point is that people have to be allowed the right to choose whether religion matters to them, and if it does, they need to be able to choose which religion they prefer to follow. That would include the ability to choose no religion at all. A truly free society--like ours--allows, even encourages, people to make that choice. If religion were not allowed or were discouraged in this country, then we would not be free. The same can be said if religion is forced--such action would destroy freedom.

I believe Mitt understands these things. Freedom requires religion because without that choice it is impossible to say that all members of society are truly free to follow their consciences. So, I applaud Mitt's statement. Perhaps it would have been more palatable if Mitt had said, "Freedom requires religion as well as the opportunity to be unreligious." However, that statement is clunky and doesn't fit with the rest of his speech. The speech was focused on faith and its role in American life. To suddenly turn and throw a sop to the atheists would have been pandering at its worst and would have diluted his message of religious tolerance. A broad mind would accept that religious tolerance as espoused in Mitt's speech includes not only acceptance of many different faiths, but also of those who have no religious faith. To declare otherwise is to simply demonstrate a person's own biases and pre-conceived notions.

It all reminds me of one of my favorite scenes from Dead Poet's Society. Robin Williams takes his students to the courtyard, selects a few and encourages them to go into the middle of the courtyard and do something. Soon, they find themselves marching in unison with the remaining students clapping the time of the march. Williams essentially points out they all fell victims to group think and were willing to be followers rather than leaders and individuals. So, the students then take great pleasure in walking around the courtyard in all sorts bizarre manners. One student, however, simply stands and observes. When Williams asks why, the student responds that he is exercising the right not to walk. Williams commends him by saying that his decision only further serves to illustrate the point.

I believe that is what we can learn from Mitt's speech if we choose to take the broader perspective. Freedom is not all marching in time with one religious dogma. It is having numerous religions--the gait of some of which may be bizarre. Freedom also enables individuals to choose to not participate in religion at all. But it would never force an individual into one camp or the other. A free society absolutely requires religion, but it most certainly does not require everyone to be religious.

Maria?

While I was in California earlier this week Savannah told Brenna that Maddie is our "Maria."

To explain: in our house we enjoy musicals and have found ourselves on a "The Sound of Music" kick lately. One of our favorite songs to listen to is "How do you solve a problem like Maria." Savannah hit the nail on the head with her comparison! If you don't know what I'm talking about, go and listen to the words!

Business Travel

I'm here at the Sun offices in Menlo Park, CA. I have a three-day face-to-face staff meeting, and we've made it through the first day. Staff meetings of this nature are generally a good thing as long as they don't happen too often. I enjoy seeing my colleagues face to face, and there is something invaluable about being in the same room while discussing issues. On the other hand, some of the topics are going to be off-point for some of the participants. So, it's not a perfect use of time, but it's a necessary aspect of being a real team and seeking to improve as a team.

The biggest downside is that it pulls me away from my family. And what a time to leave them. Brenna is feeling pretty good these days, but she still can't do too much as it makes her feel achy and tired. The kids have all taken turns throwing up this last week, and we're just praying that Brenna's turn doesn't arrive while I am gone. What a disaster that would be. Savannah and Hunter are pretty well able to take care of the things they need to, and if it were just them, I wouldn't have too many qualms about being gone. But Maddie is a different story. She is in the button-pushing stage--and I mean that figuratively more than literally. She really enjoys seeing how far she can push her parents--and her sister and brother too, for that matter. It's hard enough when we're both home and feeling well, but with me gone and Brenna not feeling well Savannah and Hunter will really have to take on more responsibility than usual and take care of their sister. They both do a very good job with that in small spurts. We'll see whether they're able to maintain it over the course of a few days. I love them all so much, and it just pleases me to see them help each other.

As for here at work, we went to a Bocce Ball place this evening for our team event. Never done that before, but it was a good time. Highly worthwhile activity. I'm not aware of any such venues in Denver. I'll have to look into that. It would be very fun for a group get together.

It's always strange for me to do that sort of thing in a work setting though, because although I enjoy my work colleagues, I haven't gotten so close to those at Sun that I really consider them hang-out friends. I don't have many of those anyway, so it's a bit of a different situation. I find myself going into recluse mode and feeling eager to get back to the hotel so I can read or just watch TV in peace and solitude. I'm not sure what that says about me, but I do relish those quiet, down times.