Yesterday, I enjoyed presenting my views on the interplay between strategy and risk to the CAANZ CFO special interest group.
In preparing for the presentation I reflected on some of my experiences early on in my career, and in many respects how these have framed my views, which have in turn found their way into the architecture of Flipview.
Before I was an accountant, I studied some obscure languages (Finnish, Swedish, Russian and German) and as a result spent a lot of time abroad. I talked about the word “Lagom” in Swedish (a word of huge significance in Scandinavia), what this means, and how in business we often alienate ourselves with terminology that can be at times unengaging. The word mitigate, an awful sounding word, is so closely tied to risk, that taking risks is no longer seen as a positive thing.
Next, I touched on my time as an internal auditor at Tyco, joining shortly after a massive corporate governance scandal erupted. This has framed my views on compliance and governance, and in particular the importance of sitting with the person on the shop or factory floor and understanding his or her views on the world.
Finally, I talked about my time in the recorded music industry in London, at the height of disruption, and how this has framed my views on business models and the interplay between strategy and risk.
It's not often we get the chance to reflect. What are the things early on in your career (or education) that have shaped who you are today?
