This weekend was the King’s coronation in the UK, with much pomp and circumstance to watch; tea and biscuits to consume.

While the festivities were undoubtedly memorable, the event also heavily emphasized, a royal flush of ideas… inclusion, tolerance, and having a duty of care to others – values that resonated beyond the event itself, across the UK, wider society, and yes even in the financial services industry.

Quick wins…

In today’s fast-paced world, we often find ourselves looking for quick, easy answers to what are sometimes complex and nuanced problems, often where there is no easy answer too.

This tendency makes us all susceptible to taking shortcuts and making quick decisions based on opinion rather than data… however, sometimes making a good decision really matters with quick fixes only getting us into trouble later on.

Recently I have been seeing, an increasing number of attention-grabbing posts on LinkedIn… “The secret of how I made $10m in 90 days”… “Follow my system, guaranteed to make your business successful”… “Passive income from doing nothing”… “Money for free”.. (okay the last two are not true, but you get the gist of it!)

… & snake oil

Clickbait…? Maybe… or maybe I have missed the boat on making easy money… everyone I interact with seems to work hard and not make easy fortunes, and those that have done very well have also worked really hard, and been really smart. (the trend – working hard and being smart…)

So how do these work? It seems that one sure way to be successful is by offering to sell other people the secret of how to be successful… Maybe this is the secret they are selling… the quick-fix mentality, a fear of missing out and we fall for it…

A duty of care…

Financial services are of course no stranger to these dynamics either – great solutions can be easily promised that are not ideal for customers… only later leading to disappointment or worse, unpaid debt or distress.

Reputable companies, of course, do not do this, and in fact the regulator now also protects customers to ensure all of them do not too.

The bar of responsibility is also being raised yet again with the upcoming consumer duty. The initial implementation deadline passed only last week, with the duty to be implemented in full by July 31st.

… to help reevaluate

These new regulations serve as a call for us all to reevaluate our customer strategies and prioritize genuine, long-lasting customer relationships. Something that the coronation this weekend also underlined.

We all need to build better communities with strong values… one where we can all support each other, lifting each other up to be better versions of ourselves.

So whilst there is more to do and undoubtedly more to come, this is also something to reflect on for the week.

This weekend was the King’s coronation in the UK, with much pomp and circumstance to watch; tea and biscuits to consume.

While the festivities were undoubtedly memorable, the event also heavily emphasized, a royal flush of ideas… inclusion, tolerance, and having a duty of care to others – values that resonated beyond the event itself, across the UK, wider society, and yes even in the financial services industry.

Quick wins…

In today’s fast-paced world, we often find ourselves looking for quick, easy answers to what are sometimes complex and nuanced problems, often where there is no easy answer too.

This tendency makes us all susceptible to taking shortcuts and making quick decisions based on opinion rather than data… however, sometimes making a good decision really matters with quick fixes only getting us into trouble later on.

Recently I have been seeing, an increasing number of attention-grabbing posts on LinkedIn… “The secret of how I made $10m in 90 days”… “Follow my system, guaranteed to make your business successful”… “Passive income from doing nothing”… “Money for free”.. (okay the last two are not true, but you get the gist of it!)

… & snake oil

Clickbait…? Maybe… or maybe I have missed the boat on making easy money… everyone I interact with seems to work hard and not make easy fortunes, and those that have done very well have also worked really hard, and been really smart. (the trend – working hard and being smart…)

So how do these work? It seems that one sure way to be successful is by offering to sell other people the secret of how to be successful… Maybe this is the secret they are selling… the quick-fix mentality, a fear of missing out and we fall for it…

A duty of care…

Financial services are of course no stranger to these dynamics either – great solutions can be easily promised that are not ideal for customers… only later leading to disappointment or worse, unpaid debt or distress.

Reputable companies, of course, do not do this, and in fact the regulator now also protects customers to ensure all of them do not too.

The bar of responsibility is also being raised yet again with the upcoming consumer duty. The initial implementation deadline passed only last week, with the duty to be implemented in full by July 31st.

… to help reevaluate

These new regulations serve as a call for us all to reevaluate our customer strategies and prioritize genuine, long-lasting customer relationships. Something that the coronation this weekend also underlined.

We all need to build better communities with strong values… one where we can all support each other, lifting each other up to be better versions of ourselves.

So whilst there is more to do and undoubtedly more to come, this is also something to reflect on for the week.

Let me know your thoughts on this subject. Share your opinion in the comments below, and let’s continue the conversation as the consumer duty deadline approaches.

Last week, I was back in Toronto, Canada, in what was really beautiful spring weather, sunny, flowers starting and green grass (spring is after all short there – summer in a couple of weeks!).

The trip not only offered me the chance to catch up with friends and old-colleagues, but also allowed me to spend the week discussing the Canadian market, receivables and collections processes. In particular the progress that has been made since the pandemic around digitalization and customer treatment.

Market Comparison

Comparing markets can be an insightful thing, and there are undoubtedly some areas where the UK, at least, has moved forward differently in comparison with the Canadian market. By comparison, there are opportunities and benefits locked away from these learnings for sure.

Likewise, I was also reminded of some of the focus and approach to business/collections from my time in Canada too… this can also be applied, to some benefit, for companies back in the UK too… a win win.

It’s the little things

Travel has the gift of providing us with fresh perspectives and in my case also the perceptions of what I think I miss vs what I actually do…

Reflecting on the trip, I was struck by these small things, which with fresh eyes, after a long absence, made me realise some of the quirky things I enjoyed during my 10 years there and made a difference to me personally. This is essentially now my checklist for when I go back…

• Canadian Cadbury’s chocolate – not the same as the uk, it’s different and I like it
• Canadian Tire – is possibly the most amazing hardware store ever, so much stuff in every store, how do they do it?
• Polishing my shoes with the brushes on the side of the down escalators on the TTC – strangely relaxing and comforting!
• Eating dinner early at 5:30 – restaurants are busy. Eat early avoid indigestion
• Goldfish – yes those tasty cheesy treats, very snackable
• President’s Choice decadent chocolate chunk cookies
• Food and asian food in particular – the food in Toronto is really very good
• Fruit and veg shops spilling onto the sidewalk
• Black squirrels – it was good to see them again (I don’t feel that way about the Racoons btw)
• And Tim Hortons iced cappuccio – although more of a summer thing… for next time

… and of course friends, old colleagues and meeting new people.

… they matter

We often assume that it is the big high profile things that are essential to our lives and we will miss when they are not there… however in fact often it is the little things and friendships that are more important.

Similarly, in business, we often hold onto big processes and practices that we think are really critical, but in reality, these perceptions may be holding us back, even not appreciated by customers or fundamental to business success.

So, what else can we learn from each other? Are there little things that really make a big difference in your processes too? What are they and is this an opportunity for improvement?

We are all connected and by being open to new perspectives, there are valuable insights to be gained, that can help us grow in all aspects of our lives.

Last week I was off on holiday in Scotland. It was an opportunity to relax, reflect on things, have too much tea and cake, with some walking in between.

Having spent the last few weeks experimenting with ChatGPT, this of course also came on holiday with me too, consisting largely of demonstrating the capabilities to those that haven’t seen it yet… (it really is like magic).

Playing with ChatGPT: Poems and Creativity

A small but fun example was creating a daily poem based on specific events in the day. They were not great, but also really not bad, and a bit of a laugh in the car on the way home.

However in the process of generating these poems, and getting these to actually reflect events, it called attention to the detail in the language required to prompt the correct response. The design proved to be sometime tricky, needing real precision in places, especially to get right.

The Importance of Precision in Language

This experience with ChatGPT poems illustrated the need for this care with language, and this is not only in AI interaction, but also in real-life communication too.

Good communication relies on clarity and being specific. It is something I know I personally don’t always get right personally all of the time… and when it goes wrong miscommunication can create all sorts of confusion and wasted effort.

In order to use ChatGPT and other generative chat programmes, in the future we are all going to need to learn how to ask and provide instructions precisely… prompt engineering… to get the responses we need (this is much like we have had to do with search… (think about how you interact with the search bar to get answers quickly in Google or Bing for example).

Will this therefore provide the practice we need to help improve our everyday communication too?

The Impact of Poor Communication

Poor communication is a common frustration in many aspects of life, including professional settings. It can lead to dissatisfaction, high employee turnover, and a lack of direction within a company.

So by employing AI tools like ChatGPT, we may not only create better content but also enhance the way we interact with each other too.

Back to reality

So a couple of observations from the short break, with some insights into the potential of ChatGPT and the importance of precise language in communication.

It’s a fascinating reminder that technology can have a profound impact on our lives, even when we least expect it.