“Outside-In” – Think like a CFO

I was fortunate to participate this week in a closing workshop of a program for Global Process Owners (GPOs) in a Global Business Services organization.

The discussion could have equally been with leaders in Digital/Technology, Transformation, Operations, Manufacturing, even Finance.

One common theme in these sessions is the realization that we spend a lot of our time thinking about the “machinery” related to our role in our organization unit or team. Our own performance measures, activities, standards, vocabulary . . .  

This “Inside-Out” thinking is necessary, but we all need to focus more of our time thinking (and behaving) “Outside-In”.

“Outside-In” thinking is about our real purpose. It answers the ultimate question “Why?”.

The metaphor we use is that we should “Think like a CFO”.

When considering priorities, process improvements, technology projects, even “What Does Good Look Like?” . . .

“Think like a CFO” tends to reframe all of these. In a good way.

How would our CFO, CEO or significant shareholder, view this project, initiative or activity?

• What is the P&L impact?
• What is the Working Capital impact?
• In what timeframe?

Are we focusing our efforts on the most important things for our business?

This “Outside-In” perspective is beautifully illustrated in the famous story of President John F. Kennedy visiting the NASA space center early in the Apollo space program. During his tour, JFK noticed a cleaner carrying a broom. 

He stopped and asked the cleaner what they did at NASA.

They replied, “I’m helping put a man on the moon, Mr. President”. 

The Power of Purpose and “Outside-In” thinking.

“Think like a CFO” means that everything we do should contribute to at least one of the following in a measurable way;

• Driving profitable, cash-generative growth for the company
• Increasing operational efficiency (better, faster and cheaper)
• Strengthening financial resilience, working capital and risk management

This requires us to develop/enhance strategies for success, including;

• The Dual Operating Model (Service Efficiency and E2E Process Optimization)
• “Shift Left” Thinking
• The Trust Equation
• Stakeholder Extension & Expansion (wider and deeper) – “WIIFM”
• What Does Good Look Like? “WDGLL” before KPIs
• Delivering Economic Value in 100 Day cycles (P&L and Working Capital)
• Engaging “Enabling” as well as “Beneficial” Stakeholders 

None of this is rocket science (except the NASA story 😉) but it does take effort to develop the necessary behaviours into the habit of “Outside-In” – Think like a CFO . . . .

If you would like a copy of the “End to End Process and GPO Playbook”, you can get it here . . .

Thanks for reading . . .