Every Friday, we select a few articles from the week that we think are worth your time as a construction financial manager (CFM). We look for compelling articles not only about financial topics, but about business, technology, and life, that challenges you to think about your role as a CFM in different ways.
What you learn after counting literally every road in America
from Washington Post
The most popular street name in Texas is “Park,” and in Colorado it’s “Aspen.” Trees, numbers, and presidents are the most popular name for streets overall. And for an intersting reason…which you can learn about in this article….”2nd” is a more popular street name than “1st.” Can you guess why that is?
The Washington Post engaged in a really interesting project by apparently “counting literally every road in America.”
Jeff Guo undertook the project, and had to think about crazy boundries like, “in many cities, there’s a 2nd Street that stops on one side of a park, then continues on the other side. Should these be counted as one road, or different roads?”
If you’re looking for a curious read, here it is.
>> What You Can Learn From Counting Every Road in America
Think you can wait on switching to the cloud? Think again.
from Salesforce.com
What ERP does your company use, and is it a cloud-based application?
Smaller companies may use cloud-based ERPs, but the larger your company, the less likely you are to have adopted a cloud solution. That’s because making the change to cloud is hard.
Consider the Wall Street Journal article “Why Big Companies Delay Using the Cloud for Some Applications,” where switching a company’s ERP from on-premis to cloud was compared to “heart surgery.”
As Jack Trout wrote in The New Positioning, “Most people can survive the old way. Most people can survive the new way. It’s the transition that kills you.”
According to a recent article from Salesfroce, however, when it comes to cloud technology, it’s possible that most people cannot survive the old way. The article cites 3 reasons why you may not be able to wait any longer on making the transition. These 3 reasons are:
- Your competitors aren’t waiting
- You need to address today’s business challenges
- Waiting has real costs
>> Learn more about why the cloud can’t wait.
ENR is driving around the country to check on our roads
Speaking of roads, ENR is doing a cool project to check out the state of America’s roads. They are driving a Classic ’49 Hudson across the country slowing and reporting on the condition of the roads along the way. This is a great project to put a spotlight on the nation’s aging infrastructure.
They are going from Boston to Phoenix, and are halfway there.
Follow along through Twitter, or at ENR.
>> Watch ENR go Low & Slow (and on Twitter #ENRLowSlow)