When worked in finance, I thought it was all about the numbers. Show people the numbers, take them through the logic, and surely I'll be able to influence them. The thing is, sometimes the numbers worked for me. But other times they didn't. It wasn't until I moved...
You go for a job, and you don’t get it. The feedback is something like, we didn’t think you had enough experience running big projects. And you think, &£@“ I’ve had loads of experience doing that! It just didn’t come up in the interview so I didn’t get a chance to...
It’s true, KFC didn’t really run out of chicken! “We definitely can’t operate without gravy” Ever said something and then wished you hadn’t? When KFC ran out of chicken last week, Iceland took to social media to advertise their frozen chicken dinners. KFC replied...
How much does the Snapchat CEO owe Kylie Jenner? In 1985 Coke was loosing share to Pepsi. So they took away original Coke and gave us new Coke, based on extensive market research and consumer testing. There was public meltdown and 3 months later the old recipe came...
The UK fried chicken market is worth £2.2 billion a year That's the equivalent of £6 million a day, or in the minute it takes you to read this post £4,000. Put another way it's 31 million 6-piece KFC bargain buckets a year. Line the buckets up and they'd reach from...
Did KFC really run out of chicken in February 2018? Or is it in fact a stroke of marketing genius? I’m not sure how much it costs to advertise your brand on the BBC news at ten! But I’m betting that the lost profits from chicken sales are well worth the media...
We often find ourselves saying no. There are great reasons why we say no. The problem is that people hate being told no. Most of us have a hyper-sensivity to the word. Think about how you feel when someone says no to you. There's nowhere to go from a no. The...
Are you reports and presentations looking a bit dull? Do you want to give your audience something interesting and fun to engage them? Most presentations and reports are made up of tables of numbers and bullet points - yawn central! Bring your next presentation to life...
Us finance people are obsessed with actual, budget, last year comparisons. We just seem to love them. We very quickly create large tables of numbers comparing actual, budget and last year. The current month isn't enough. We do YTD and full year too. For the whole...
I started to work for a finance director who had a unique view of the role of finance. He had left finance and spent 5 years in general management. And then he came back into finance. He said it completely changed his perspective. He had unconventional view on almost...
One of the things I love about what I do is the questions I am asked during training courses and presentations. This week I was asked a great question which really made me think. We were talking about the importance of relationships. And how influence starts with...
Finance automation is a big deal now. Actually such a big deal that finance automation is the new big data. And big data is quite new. I believe the most important role of finance has always been, and will always be, one thing: To bridge the gap between the the...
The bullet point was invented some time in the 1950s. It's 2017, it's time to move on. Surely we can find some alternatives to bullet points? What's the problem with bullets? Number 1: they're over-used meaning they're boring and you won't stand out using them Number...
One of the questions I am asked the most is what's the best finance team structure? I always say the same. The mindset of the people you have is way more important than the structure. If your finance team have a commercial mindset, then they will work well in any...
Your team are probably all very busy. But how do you know whether they are busy fools. Or focussed. Efficient. Making a genuine difference. Here's 3 things to look out for. 1. How much time do they spend at their desk? Business partnering doesn't happen in Excel or...
A few years ago the Apple CEO Tim Cook was asked by an analyst how important iMac sales were to Apple. He said that iMac sales were $22 billion. He could have left it there. Except he knows something that a lot of us don't. He knows never to leave a number hanging. He...
Data visualisation doesn't have to be difficult. You don't need a fancy new app or system. Simple text is my single favourite way to bring numbers to life. It is way better than presenting a table of numbers or a P&L account. You'll see it used a lot in the front...
There's always been a gap between data and the people who need to make decisions based on it. Today we live in a World of big data, which basically means there's a lot of it. More than we can really imagine. And it's getting bigger and faster. Meaning the gap between...
Read the average job profile for a finance, HR, procurement or other business partner and the only thing missing is a cape and pair of pants to wear on the outside. In our rush to squeeze in as many capabilities as we can, are we missing the big picture? By the time...
We love a waterfall chart, because they help us tell a story. What does every great story have? A beginning, middle and end. A table of numbers will only show you the beginning and the end. Imagine watching Finding Nemo in a table: There's a fish called Nemo and he...
Netflix has changed the game in so many ways. They only just made it though. When Netflix were struggling, Blockbusters had the chance to buy them for just $50 million. Twice they turned it down. Twice. The rest is history. The first original content Netflix...
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