My 3 interesting things for you this month…
1. Motivation vs Discipline: A New Year’s Perspective
It’s the time of year again when we reflect on our goals and aspirations (I promise this one isn’t about setting great new year’s resolutions!).
Whatever you want to achieve this year, at work or personally, the conversation often starts with motivation.
But there’s a powerful truth that often gets overlooked: that discipline, not motivation, is the real driver behind sustained success.
The case for discipline over motivation is pretty compelling.
Motivation comes and goes (usually quite quickly!). It’s that spark of inspiration you feel after reading a great book or attending a transformative workshop.
Yes motivation can get you started, but it’s discipline (consistently doing something regardless of your mood) that keeps you moving forward.
Think of discipline as the bridge between your goals and achieving them. It creates routines, and builds habits and therefore consistency.
James Clear’s Atomic Habits explains the concept nicely: small, consistent actions compound over time to create remarkable outcomes.
This could mean setting aside regular time to upskill in tools like PowerBI, or my favourite (unsurprisingly!), how to make AI a daily habit.
So how do we build discipline? Here are a few handy ideas:
1. Create rituals, not resolutions
Instead of vague New Year’s resolutions like “improve my influence on my financial analysis,” create rituals. Spend 15 minutes at the start of each month creating a hypotheses of the actionable insight you expect to see this month.
2. Embrace accountability
Use team check-ins, a goals trackers or an accountability buddy to stay accountable. Transparency isn’t just a great value to have as a leader, it’s also an excellent tool for self-improvement.
3. Link new habits to old
New habits are easier to sustain if you link them to habits you already have. The most obvious example is brushing your teeth. If you can remember to do your new action every time you brush your teeth, you will have a new habit in under a month.
4. Set yourself up for success
Make it easy to do the habit. To help me with my daily AI habit (and to stop myself purely relying on ChatGPT when there are many alternatives out there), I created a folder with all my AI apps in one place, and added it to the home screen on my phone.
Use a post-it note on your monitor that tells you to do something. Or even better, a post-it note where other people will see it which says “Ask me about [my new habit]” – a reminder from anyone that comes to your desk!
Let me know how you get on with your new habits!
2. Closing the Productivity Gap With Great Managers
The UK has a productivity challenge, one that we see mirrored to some extent in finance.
The UK has seen persistently low levels of economic output per hour worked compared to other advanced economies.
Because of this, the “productivity puzzle” has been a long-standing concern for policymakers and business leaders.
Despite being a global financial and business hub, the UK has lagged behind countries like the US, Germany, and France in productivity growth for over a decade.
While the country’s productivity challenges remain, a recent study by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) sheds light on a promising area for improvement: the quality of management.
Between 2020 and 2023, the average score for management quality in UK firms rose from 0.49 to 0.55 on a scale of 0 to 1. This shift, though not huge, highlights that management practices can be improved quickly, offering a powerful lever to address the productivity problem.
Better management almost always leads to improved output – happier employees, higher competency and faster development.
In finance, we have an excellent opportunity to help lead progress here. AI is of course going to help improve productivity over the next 10 years, but there are ways that finance teams can too.
Coaching to Success
The number 1 way we can improve the quality of our management is through coaching.
Investing time and energy into improving coaching habits at all levels of our finance teams will pay dividends – in productivity, impact and employee health and happiness.
Using our coaching skills with the business can show both how valuable this skill is, at the same time as influencing business outcomes.
Use Data to Highlight Management Gaps
Finance teams can act as catalysts for change by using analytics to uncover inefficiencies and underperformance.
Employee productivity metrics, ROI analysis and benchmarking can all help identify areas for improvement.
Keep in mind that business partnering skills are going to be needed for this highly sensitive topic!
Open questions are the key to unlocking progress here.
Supporting Investment in Management Training
Finance holds the key to one of Robert Cialdini’s key factors of influence: scarcity.
Specifically, scarcity of budget and funding. This year, particularly in the UK with employee tax changes, we will see people budgets come under pressure.
Our role will be to ask:
- What is the ROI of investing in our managers to do more with less?
- What kind of programs could support this?
- How can we adapt our budgets to enable this? (If you’re looking for great management training, drop me a note)
We talk a lot about AI being the future of productivity, but improving management offers a big opportunity for us.
One last thing on this: which is harder? Being an accountant, or being a manager?
Being a manager!
We spent 3,000 hours+ learning to become an accountant, and somewhere between 0 and 20 hours on manager training. Isn’t it time we gave management training the attention it deserves?
3. Using CustomGPTs to Solve Finance Challenges
2025 is going to be a year of change, the speed of which we have never seen before.
AI is revolutionising finance, providing tools that will simplify processes, uncover insights and help us make better decisions.
People ask me: Oli, what is the easiest way to go beyond just basic prompts? One of the most accessible ways is CustomGPTs in ChatGPT.
What on earth is a CustomGPT you might ask?!
CustomGPTs are AI assistants fine-tuned to meet your specific needs. No advanced programming skills or significant investments in new software needed.
Think AI models designed for specific tasks or industries. Instead of a general-purpose assistant (just asking normal prompts in ChatGPT for example), you can create AI specialising in tasks like financial analysis, training, reporting, or process improvement.
The beauty of these models is that they can be customised by setting specific instructions or rules. For example, a custom GPT for finance could be configured to focus on tax regulations, financial modelling best practices, or industry standards.
Even without the ability to load your finance team’s confidential data into a custom GPT (unless you have the Enterprise version, which is less likely currently for most users), there are still creative and impactful ways to use these tools to transform how you work.
Two big benefits: 1) you don’t have to set the context every time and 2) it will get better the more that you use it.
When can be utilise CustomGPTs?
1. Training
Custom GPTs can serve as a learning resource for new hires, junior team members or anyone new to something. Topics could include: accounting principles, using excel or even how to use AI!
2. Research
Let’s say you work in tax accounting and need help staying up-to-date with complex tax codes. A custom GPT can provide clarifications on specific tax rules or guidelines, summaries of publicly available government documents or advice about scenarios (e.g., “What are the VAT implications for cross-border transactions in the UK?”).
3. Industry News Summaries
Staying informed about industry developments is critical. Custom GPTs can summarise market trends, regulatory updates and key insights from earnings reports or analyst calls. You can use them to write updates for your teams as well.
While GPTs cannot access proprietary data directly, they can provide general guidance on how to approach budgeting and forecasting. For example: identifying key drivers for financial models, suggesting templates or frameworks for annual budgets and advice on sensitivity analysis.
So how do you get started?
Step 1 – Access the “Explore GPTs” Feature
Go to the ChatGPT platform, navigate to the “Explore GPTs” section, and select “Create a GPT.” Ensure you have a ChatGPT Plus subscription, as it’s required for this feature.
Step 2 – Name Your GPT and Set its Purpose
In the create section, give your GPT a name “This GPT should be called Finance Coach Pro” and describe its purpose. For example: “This GPT is designed to teach financial modelling, accounting standards, and market analysis in a structured, clear, and engaging manner.”
Step 3 – Provide Clear Instructions
Again in the ‘Create’ section, add detailed instructions for how your GPT should behave.
Example: “Explain financial concepts step-by-step, offer examples, and suggest exercises for learning. Provide concise definitions for accounting terms and deliver actionable insights for market analysis scenarios.”
Load up any previous examples of examples you are able to share. Tell it a bit about your context “This is the finance team of a UK based company that is a small retailer of baby clothes.”
Step 4 – Customise with Example Prompts
Now in the preview section on the right hands side, you’re ready to start using it. Add prompts to guide its training.
Examples:
- “Teach me how to build a discounted cash flow model.”
- “Explain IFRS 15 with examples.”
- “What are the key factors affecting market volatility this quarter?”
- Test and Refine: Interact with your GPT by asking it a variety of questions. Refine the instructions based on its responses to ensure it meets your expectations.
- Save and Use: Once satisfied, save your GPT and start using it as your personal finance coach for learning and professional growth. Share it with colleagues if desired!
One thing to note: you will need a paid for subscription for this to work. What?!? Am I asking you to spend £20 per month of your own money on this?!! Especially if your organisation has advised against using it!?
Yes I am.
Let me know if you need any further guidance and feel free to share any success stories!
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