Blog
Practical thinking for senior leaders navigating transformation
The Impact Architect
A newsletter for CFOs, Finance Directors, and senior leaders navigating complex transformation.
The Impact Architect explores the cross-functional challenges that don’t fit neatly into any one function’s agenda. Each issue draws on real programme experience to look at what breaks when finance, people, operations, and data aren’t joined up, and what shifts when someone bridges the gap.
Why making complexity visible is the most underrated skill in transformation
Why the ability to make complex problems visible is the skill that most often determines whether transformation succeeds, with three practical examples from the field.
Are you describing what you do, or why it matters?
I bought a cold plunge pool last year, which quite frankly I look back on wondering what I was thinking, because the thought of jumping into ice-cold water is genuinely something that makes me want to run in the opposite direction. I didn't buy it because I love being...
Why your headcount number is different every time someone pulls it
Why the gap between HR data and finance data is one of the most quietly destructive problems in workforce planning, and what to do about it. For CFOs and Finance Directors.
Why your forecast is already out of date before it reaches the business
Why forecast accuracy is rarely the real problem in financial planning, and what actually determines whether a forecast adds value or just adds noise. For CFOs and Finance Directors.
The transformation variable nobody puts on the plan
Why most transformation programmes capture less than a third of their expected value, and what the missing variable usually is. For CFOs and transformation leaders navigating complex change.
Why your new finance system won’t fix your data problem
Most finance directors I have worked with reach the same point eventually. Month-end is taking too long, nobody quite trusts the numbers coming out of the reports, and someone in a senior meeting says "we need a new system." It feels like a decisive moment. The...
Creating the basic foundations in your business
Focus on some of the basics to create a solid structure to build from.
How distraction made me a better person
I have always considered January as a strange month with lots of thoughts and great intentions to take action towards improving our lives in some way in the forthcoming year. It almost felt to me that January was starting to resemble the period you have after eating a...
Principles of Change
Over the past 20 years working as a consultant and leader within corporate businesses, I have experienced my fair share of change activities. The activities included core system replacement, cultural transformation, operational improvement, target operating model...