How CFOs add the most value in conversation

Alongside Dr Stephen Covey's circles, I introduced our CFO Boardroom members to The Real Math Loop™ (The Loop).

One of the things that happens in a day designed for conversation is... well, lots of conversation!

Together we co-created a really complex business case study to solve certain business problems. The job was to communicate advice to the CEO of said business.

At first, some really good advice came out. Rapid fire, 'yeah, we thought that, too'.

It was all a bit fast and furious, so I thought 'let's slow this down' and introduced The Loop:

• See: from all angles, from all perspectives.
• Sense-make: make relevant and useful meaning of all the perspectives.
• Decide: make a decision. Don't sit on the fence.
• Act: take action. Inaction is action.
• Learn: reflect on what worked and what didn't.

Once I pointed The Loop out, they realised there was far more depth and value they could offer their fictitious CEO. They caught themselves in their own advice: a little too blinkered, a little too quick to act, and a little too comfortable on the fence.

They are not the only ones.

They loved the simplicity of The Real Math Loop™, and I've encouraged them to observe conversations through this lens from now on. They will soon discover what I've learned after years of looking through it:

1. we are increasingly good at seeing from many perspectives. But we still have blind spots.
2. we downplay the power of sense-making
3.  we don't make decisions (this is a biggie)
4. we act before we have done #1-3
5. we don't activate our learnings, thus missing the point of this step.

Where the financial playmaker comes in

A financial playmaker notices which step the conversation is in, and which one it's skipping, and has the presence to slow the room down and say so. Usually the step being skipped is Decide.

That's what I did last week. I asked the room, 'which step are we in?' and was met with silence.

What's your play? In your next big conversation, pay attention to which step the table feels most comfortable in, and which is wants to skip?