Many of you know that I love photography. There are many similarities between photography and finance.
Photography
In the way I explained to my daughter, photography is all about framing and lighting. Certainly, there are basic concepts like focus, aperture, depth of field, but technology has already taken care of them for most people. What makes a great picture vs. a good one are often about framing and lighting.
The subject you want to highlight + context of the environment = you the story you want to tell. For example, you can use space to project movement and anticipation. Or you can use depth or relative size to put the reader in your perspective. Are you scanning a forest like a bird? Is that lady the only thing you see in the world?
Lighting is about the relative emphasis. What is noteworthy belong to the forefront vs. better a role as the backdrop? How about some areas to be left for interpretation?
High angle vs. low angle, sharp vs. bokeh, rich colors vs. plain. We each have our own style, but no pictures are the same. The choice is ours.
Finance
In many finance roles, our job is to help our partners identify and understand patterns and non-patterns alike.
We can report numbers straight up in tables or charts. But anyone can do that, and the machines will soon too. Where do we add the most value? Provide the frame of reference and perspective.
See the What, Answer the Why, Ask the So What, Explore the Then What.
A few numbers may not make a trend, but the context matters.
- What is the absolute impact ($, time) relative to the total business or market?
- What are controllable vs. environmental?
- What does the team need to see front and center, vs. the noise that can be a distraction?
- How about that blurred spot that can someday become a picture of its own?
Finance people are generally in a unique position with access to broad perspectives and data. It is our job to frame it for our partners, tell a story and drive decisions.
So What?
In business, the answers we get depend on the questions we ask.
Can you help your team reframe the situation? If repeating the same actions have not generated satisfactory results, how can you change our perspectives, so we arrive at different solutions, actions, perhaps even objectives?
This post is actually not about finance. Anyone can and should use your power of perspective. We are all artists if we let ourselves do the hard work.
This is one of the reasons why diverse teams outperform homogenous ones – if the environment allows us to adjust focus while looking at the landscape.
