Rebel ideas...
I’ve just finished reading ‘Rebel Ideas’ by Matthew Syed, which is about the power of diverse thinking. It was a brilliant read. It would be easy for me to end the blog here by saying go and read the book, which I do think you should do.
However, it got me thinking about finance and - as usual - I tried to relate the theories in the book to my day to day life. The main point of the book is that often you have to try and look at things from a completely different lens to be able to see how you can make an impactful change.
If I give you the example of a diet - there are thousands of diets out there all telling people different things. Cut out fat, don’t eat carbs, sugar is the enemy, only eat for a specific period every day and so on and so on. How can all of the different recommendations be right for each individual? In the book, Mr Syed gave an example of a woman in Israel whose diet was full of fruit and veg, which are normally associated with being healthy and having high levels of glucose. When they tested her body for each item specifically, her blood sugar spiked hugely when she ate nectarines and tomatoes, but her levels fell when she ate watermelon? The example went on to say that some people have an adverse reaction to white bread and have a positive reaction to brown bread and vice versa. It seems so obvious to say it, but every human is so individual. Once we have the data available, we’ll be able to tailor diets that are based on our individual bodies and metabolic data and they would be likely to see a huge drop in weight, obesity and an uplift in health.
How does this relate to finance? The answers are infinite of course but a few key examples spring to mind. Our profession is largely dominated by older, white males. It’s a homogenous industry. Adding diversity of people with different genders, ethnicities and backgrounds is going to give rise to different viewpoints and wider perspectives. Whether this diversity is across staff, board members and/or clients.
The other example is based around your approach to clients. I know some firms who issue staff with a script to stick to when they speak to clients or perspective clients. Now I can see the perceived benefits of this approach – a consistent message, and guidance for those less experienced in speaking to clients. But when those restrictions were placed on me, I really didn’t like it and felt uncomfortable with speaking from a script. When you’re sitting with someone and they take you off script what do you do then? How do you lead them back to the defined script you’ve got? Again, I’m not saying one technique is right or wrong, just that my individualism meant that I needed the freedom to take each meeting as it came.
The final one is about the people and the families we serve at Engage. Each and every one of them is different, has different enzymes or genomes to borrow from the dietary explanation. We have to tailor our approach for everyone.
Does client X like to speak regularly, or do they enjoy being left alone? Do they prefer to meet face to face or do they prefer a video call for convenience? How do they feel about investing? What background, theories or thoughts have framed their beliefs over decades? There are so many decisions and things to think about that we HAVE to work with people and treat them as individuals. How could we do anything other?
And so, to conclude, I highly recommend you read the book ‘Rebel Ideas’ by Matthew Syed and be open to a different way of thinking, to exposing yourself to different sides of an argument you might not have known even existed.