Implementing Beyond Budgeting, 2nd Edition

Introduction

“I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.”

Douglas Adams

Many years have passed since I sat down in my mountain cabin in Norway and started writing about my Beyond Budgeting journey. The book I ended up with was conceived in the cold and dark of winter, but was written with a burning belief about a new and better way. I am both humbled and proud that the book found its way into academic curriculums, and that business schools around the world are teaching the Borealis and Statoil cases, which the book introduced.

Many have encouraged me to write a second book. I knew I would. There has been so much progress for Beyond Budgeting and so much learning for myself, more than I ever could have dreamt of when my journey started way back in the mid-1990s.

This wealth of new insights and experiences is, however, hard to share in isolation, without linking back to where it all started in Borealis and later continued in Statoil. I was therefore uncertain if I should update the first edition or write a completely new book. My publisher and many others recommended a revision first. I ended up with something in between. I hope returning readers will find it more new than revised.

My writing has been accompanied by countless hours of great music. A big thank-you to Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, Elvis Costello, Tom Waits, Warren Zevon (I have to stop here) and so many other great artists for providing the soundtrack to ...