Video - What have I learned?

This is my largest and oldest Newsletter. I set it up 4 years ago and it has 4K Subscribers, so welcome one and all. I hope you are enjoying the St Patricks Day Weekend! The Parade is Monday so I am keeping my powder dry until tomorrow and yes St Patricks 'Day' is now a Weekend. Sure, why not, says you.

Over those 4 years, in between running Finance Transformation & Shared Services Projects, I have experimented heavily with Video to get my message across. I am but a lone voice crying in the wilderness of Change. Convinced that Finance Directors would all like secretly to be interviewed by Parkinson, to describe their challenges and their 'lesson learned' from years at the Finance coal face.

The younger ones, the tyros leading Start Ups in the Tech age will undoubtedly rather be on Sky News but for the rest, those who know that Excel will follow them until the Carriage Clock is awarded they want a sit down interview, none of this Laura Kuenzberg in front of the Houses Parliament approach. Give me a Studio they say!

This is my steadfast belief. However, is it my experience these last 4 years as the World has changed and Man Utd are in a perpetual state of freefall.? Well yes and no. Yes they all want the sit down interview, the set piece battle as they verbally joust with me about the potential of AI versus the comfort blanket of Excel. Several even ask for the Questions in advance, oh I chortle at the naivety and stare blankly at them. Does a Financial Crisis send its Questions in advance...I think not, think on your toes is the order of the day and bring your A game.

They like, as the camera focusses in on them to impart those pearls of wisdom gleaned from 30 plus years powering through Month End like Mark Hughes in his pomp going through a Liverpool defence but does the audience like it???

Well, YES & NO. This is my experience...

• The Finance Leaders love to be interviewed - I literally could film about once a week and work till I was 100
• They like about 40 to 50 minutes and warm to their experience once nerves are settled
• They enjoy it so much they want a second trip to the Studio...a second trip indeed...do I look like the BBC? A second trip indeed young man.
• HOWEVER, the viewing Public, the Finance Community, the people who sit in the 'virtual audience' which is LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter (X or Y?), Instagram and Facebook they do not.
• They only want the Highlights - they are Match of the Day with Jimmy Hill. As Mark Vincent was interviewed today in the Trophy Room at Villa Park, he said...they only want the Highlights
• Now I know you are all tech savvy, spend your spare time scrolling and could have told me at the start just give us the Highlights please Sir but its kinda hard to film 'the highlights'

Which means that Finance & Transformation Leaders of absolutely Premiership quality are not getting an audience of sufficient depth to reflect their talents.

What can I do?

Well, only pick the best and insist they deliver nuggets, so here you go. Enjoy.

Best Regards,

The Finance Transformation Consulting Newsroom