Marchnotes
Thank goodness spring is on its way. This has been a busy month. I have struggled a bit with work-life balance. I am juggling recovery from Covid and projects all realising peak activity at the same time. To an extent I wanted to be busy — its better than doomscrolling and feeling anxious about world events. But danger lies down that track. I have been experimenting with working different hours and sleeping more. Yes this helped. And the sleep matters more than when I work. But the big thing was getting some exercise in. It took a while, but I started up again. I’ve signed up to some running races to motivate myself. And although I have lost a little fitness, the return is definitely within my grasp.
A definite trend I have noted this month relates real-life meetings. Remember those? Exactly… Organisations I know have been attempting to return to real-life Board meetings. And each time there has been low attendance, despite folk being desperate to see each other. I’ve done it myself. In my case it was sheer overscheduling — I forgot to sufficiently factor in commuting time. Apologies! Its not like we are having fewer meetings due to remote working, after all. But its not just that. I’m not sure everyone is ready. The change in society has been too profound. Not every personality skips happily through the gates on the first day of school. I guess there is a real leadership challenge there for us all. And the first part of that challenge is noticing it.
Finally, I have had the chance to work on a multi-disciplinary project this month, and it has done me a world of good. Much as I love other accountants (I am married to one :) ) I learn more from other professions. Its an abiding frustration of mine that we finance folk don’t do more to share and engage with the rest of the world. It does no one any good to keep finance mysterious. If anyone comes across like a voodoo accountant? Run a mile.
And there are loads of skills out there to borrow from other disciplines, such as project management. For example, I’ve lost count of the technically strong accountants who can’t project manage an audit for toffee. But its more than the skills or knowledge. In a world where its harder to network remotely, these sorts of projects are even more valuable. What makes it special is the ability of the team to hold multiple points of view. In a world of increasing complexity we need rich insight more than ever. The insight that multi-disciplinary teams have at their best is what we are all crying out for.
