Let’s Change The Perspective On Finance!
Anders Liu-Lindberg
Leading advisor to senior Finance and FP&A leaders on creating impact through business partnering | Interim | VP Finance | Business Finance
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Finance has been in an always-on transformation for the past two decades and it seems to be following the same mantra.?
This is where we stand today, and it seems like a cycle that just keeps repeating itself. The question is if there’s a different way to look at the finance function? Can we get creative and change our perspective on things? That’s what I intend to explore in a new article series.?
Why do we need to change perspective??
The idea for this article series I got from Frederik G. Pferdt who’s responsible for making the employees at Google more creative. Google being one of the most innovative companies of our time is probably a good place to start if we want to get creative about Finance. Here’s what Frederik said about creativity.?
“Creativity to me equals thinking freely, seeing things from new and unfamiliar angles. A shift in perspective equals a fresh approach rather than being lost in set structures”?
While Finance is in a constant transformation it somehow seems like we’re lost in a set structure. At least I find myself always preaching the same messages and nudging people to go in specific directions.
That’s not necessarily bad but it’s not an innovative route either. We risk that with our current transformation paradigm that we develop too many blind spots and suddenly see ourselves disrupted by unforeseen changes.
While changing perspectives shouldn’t necessarily lead to a new transformation path for Finance right away it’s this kind of thinking that’ll pave the way for how we will do things five-ten years from now. Just imagine one of the following statements.?
It could be that some of these statements are unlikely, however, thinking about the scenarios will force you to change perspectives on what you’re doing.?
So how do we change our perspective??
In simple terms, it’s all about asking questions. Imagine being a kid again. Kids ask many questions. Some are obvious and easy to answer but many are not so obvious or at least we wouldn’t know the answer without searching for it.
However, along the way, we lose this simple ability to ask questions. As a result, we become less creative because we’re not challenging the set structures. The good thing is that we can easily find our creative abilities again. All it takes is stepping outside your comfort zone and get over your own fear of being judged by others.
I step out of my comfort zone every day and have little fear of being judged. It doesn’t mean that what I say is always right. It just means I’ve accepted that failing and saying sometimes silly things is part of learning. That’s why I have no concerns whatsoever to ask questions about how to change perspectives on Finance. Here are the questions I intend to ask.?
Perhaps there are more questions we can ask ourselves so feel free to add in the comments. Trying to answer these questions will challenge all of us because we’re so used to the current paradigm of always-on transformation.
The point is simply to explore if there’s another way for the finance function. Either now or in the future. I hope that you’ll join me on this exploratory quest and let’s see if we can change perspectives on where Finance is heading in the future!
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This was the first article in my new series on how to change perspectives on Finance. If you want to learn about the changes that are happening in Finance and Accounting these years then I have few recent articles for you that you might find relevant. Check them out below!
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You can read a lot more articles about FP&A, Business Partnering, and Finance Transformation below. It all start's with “Introducing The Finance Transformation Nine Box ”?where you set the ambition for your transformation. You should join the?Finance Business Partner Forum ?which is part of the Business Partnering Institute's online community where we will continue to discuss this topic and you can click here to follow me on?Twitter .
All Successful Business Partners Are "Leaders" ?(the last article in the series about our new capability model)
Should We Keep Talking About Business Partnering? ?(part of a 17-article series where we deep-dive on the WHY, WHAT, and HOW of business partnering by putting it on a formula)
Everyone Can Adopt A Business Partnering Mindset ?(part of a six-article series about FP&A Business Partnering)
From Business Partner To Working Within The Business ?(part of an article series where I interview finance professionals about their careers in FP&A and Business Partnering)
Is Your Product Optimized For Value Creation? ?(part of a toolbox series where we look at what tools FP&A professionals should leverage to drive value creation)
How Business Partners Turn Analysis To Insight ?(part of case study series where I interview business partners about how they drive value creation using real cases)
Anders Liu-Lindberg ?is the co-founder and a partner at the?Business Partnering Institute ?and owner of the largest?group dedicated to Finance Business Partnering ?on LinkedIn with close to 10,000 members. I have ten years of experience as a business partner at the global transport and logistics company?Maersk . I am the co-author of the book “Create Value as a Finance Business Partner ” and a?long-time Finance Blogger ?on LinkedIn with 60.000+ followers and 140.000+ subscribers to my blog. Recently I became an advisory board member at?Born Capital ?to help identify and grow the next big thing in #CFOTech.
Finance Business Partner | Writer | Geek
3 年Great article Anders. It’s true, some structures feel like shackles when it comes to creativity (e.g long hours in finance) but I’ll add that it’s got a lot to do with organizational structures at times and even in our leaders as to whether they encourage it. Another question I’d also ask when it comes to re imagining the future of finance is, What have I prepared for the future of Finance? Or Where Will I fit in?