…..He’s going to ask for a glass of milk!  So begins the children’s classic by the same name, written by Laura Numeroff and illustrated by Felicia Bond.  I heartily recommend it to the parents of children, to grandparents and to all who are kids at heart. If this one doesn’t make you chuckle, you’ve forgotten how.  It’s one of my very favorites!

The whimsical mouse runs a little boy ragged as the story unfolds; the story ends up with a thirsty mouse who is looking for — you guessed it — a glass of milk.  In a business context, this strikes me like our quest for timely business information.  Once we have a taste, we want more. And once we get that, we want more still. We also want it to come to us faster and faster.

In fact, our insatiable thirst for useful information is the very thing that drives continuous improvement in financial software and the technology that supports it. Once we’ve tasted a little, we want more, better and faster information thereafter. It’s really exciting to have this at our fingertips, with just a few clicks of a “mouse”.

The point of getting the information, however, is to actually do something with it.  Valuable information is best enjoyed with a cold glass of milk and a few moments to swallow and digest it. There isn’t any nutritional value in simply looking at it.

More information isn’t necessarily better, either. The right information, served up while still warm, is usually the best.  A box of old hard cookies can’t compare to a small plate with a few delicious cookies fresh from the oven!

We are so fortunate to be able to access the real-time information we want, when we want it.  It’s important to thank those who prepare it for us and serve it up to order.  The best compliment is simply to take the time to pause, process and use it for guiding actions before dashing off to the next thing.

Enjoy your cookie, the milk and the journey!